The Silver Eyed Assassin (Series)
by Fiddler in the Woods
Summary: What happened if Mercury Black was more than he claimed to be? What if he wasn't just an assassin? What if he was one of them? Summer Rose was one of them. Ruby Rose's one of them. His father was one of them. But Mercury Black wasn't ready to be one of them. He wasn't ready to be a silver eyed warrior. …What'd he do if his deeply hidden secret was revealed?
1. Of Butchers and Silver Eyes

**Hello!**

 **So, I love RWBY. This is no lie. It's one of my favourite shows. So I decided to write this one-shot about a small head cannon I love.**

 **And yes, I know how improbable this is.**

 **CHAPTER SUMMERY:**

 _ **Mercury Black: master assassin and Cinder's disciple. He was also Marcus Black's son. And Marcus Black was a silver eyed warrior. But... Mercury claimed to have grey eyes. He even denied having silver eyes. Something didn't add up. What if he lied? What if it was Mercury Black: master assassin, Cinder's disciple, and silver eyed warrior? That would be interesting.**_

 **I don't own RWBY.**

 **Enjoy!**

Cinder and Emerald watched the end of a fight from beyond the treeline. It was between their target, a man named Marcus Black, and a younger man. Cinder didn't know why they were fighting. All she knew was that the young man had the upper hand and their target was going to lose.

As much as she loves to see damnation, fights to the death, and all that good stuff… she can't have her target be dead. His skills were vital. They didn't just go after a random target; his skillset was unique—and not easily replicated.

Marcus was an assassin, and a rather good one at that. But there was also something else to him that made him special. Her master, Salem, had very few weaknesses. One of them were silver eyed warriors. Marcus was one of these silver eyed warriors. But unlike his folk, he had a twisted moral and could easily join Cinder's group. He had donned the assassin life and hid in the mountains, too far away for Ozpin to locate—he wasn't tainted by that man's foolishness.

If Marcus died, then their target wouldn't get recruited. That was bad. He was good at what he did and would be useful. But if he did die, then one silver eyed warrior would as well. That was beneficial to Salem's plan. And if this young man managed to kill Marcus… well, Cinder may have a proposition for him.

So she decided to see who the victor of this fight would be.

Emerald watched the fight, then she glanced at Cinder whilst wondering what to do. Cinder raised her hand, symbolising for Emerald to stay put. They would not do anything with much haste.

The young man quickly finished off Marcus. He stood by the corpse, seemingly out of breath. This was when Cinder struck. She walked out of the treeline and onto the path, followed by Emerald. They stopped a few metres from the young man, keeping their distance. He glared at them, standing on his last legs. Emerald was slightly wary, she moved to a position where she could easily grab her weapons should it come to that.

Cinder looked at the young man, amused. His legs were bleeding through thickly wrapped bandages, the fight didn't help with keeping the wound close. His aura must have been depleted by now, but he seemed as if he would still fight. There was a forming bruise under his left eye, his right was covered by silver bangs.

He spoke first:

"What are you looking at?"

"I'm looking for Marcus Black," Cinder explained.

The young man spat towards the corpse lying on the ground. He then gestured to it. "There you go."

Cinder looked at the corpse. This was Marcus. This was the silver eyed warrior. An assassin slain by a teenager?

Emerald must have been thinking the same thing. For she eased her stance and spoke, "That's the assassin?"

Cinder looked at Marcus, closely, and then at the young man. She could see some sort of resemblance. Though nothing to cement her forming idea. But… why would Marcus be living along with a young man unless…

"And you're his son," she realised.

He wiped blood from his nose in response.

Cinder continued to speak, "We saw your fight from the treeline. He's taught you well."

"Guess so." That was all the late assassin's son had to say.

Cinder slightly tilted her head, amused by him. "What's your name?"

"Mercury."

"Mercury," she repeated. "Tell me, are you anything like your father?"

He glanced at the corpse. "No. I'm still alive."

Cinder raised her eyebrows at that response. It was… amusing. This whole scenario was amusing. She spoke up again:

"Do you know who I am?"

"No," he said. "Who?"

"I am Cinder Fall, and this is my associate Emerald," she introduced. "We were looking for your father in order to offer a proposition—which I think you can fill instead."

"What proposition?" he demanded.

"My master," she began, "is looking for power—real power—and I can get it for her. All I need is some assistance. Emerald, here, has already agreed to this. You can too. If you help me, not only will you secure a spot on the victorious side—but you will reap in rewards."

"I don't fancy any rewards," he said, "so, leave."

"We will," Cinder assured, "but I have one question to ask."

"Which is?"

"Do you enjoy chaos and being an assassin?" she wondered. "I can promise loads of chaos if you join me. You can help in the fall of Vale. You could help in its destruction."

"As much as I do like destruction, I'm still not seeing a reason why I should join your 'party'," Mercury admitted. "I could just watch from here."

"From here?" she asked, looking at the burning house. "Anyway, you won't. I can tell, Mercury, that you enjoy taking part in destruction. Don't you?"

Mercury didn't answer.

Cinder sighed, "Very well." She turned to Emerald. "Let's go."

The two turned and started to walk down the path when Mercury called out to them.

"Wait."

She stopped. A nefarious smile worked its way onto her face. Yet when she turned to face him, it disappeared. "Yes?"

"This group," he started, "what exactly are you looking for?"

She looked at him. "Something more powerful than anyone would think."

"So it's dangerous?" he wondered.

"Very."

"Alright," he declared, "I'll join your group."

She smiled. "Wonderful."

He walked over to them. She got a good look at his features. His silver hair wasn't a trick of the light, it was truly silver. Much like his… eyes. To the untrained eye, they would seem grey—but that was only because of the lighting. Cinder looked at them, did he have silver eyes? It would make sense, Marcus had them, and he was his father.

That didn't matter.

She would deal with that later.

"Mercury?" she wondered. "Have you ever heard of the story of the Four Maidens?"

* * *

"Has anyone told you that your red eyes make it seem like you're angry all the time?"

"Mercury. Shut up."

"What? I'm just pointing out a fact!"

"An useless fact that doesn't need to be mentioned."

"Whatever."

Currently, Mercury and Emerald were in their dorm at Beacon. Cinder was out, so it was just the two of them. To blow time, Mercury decided that bugging Emerald was the best pastime.

"But I'm serious," he started, "it just makes it seem like you're always angry!"

"Maybe because I'm always angry at you!" Emerald suggested. "Have you thought of that?"

He thought for a moment. "Yup. Then I think 'no one could always be mad at someone everyday'. So your logic is flawed."

She sighed in annoyance. "My eyes do not make me look angry. Yours just make you look stupid. Though, it doesn't take much too."

"Ouch!" he hissed. "Getting stabbed would hurt less than that. Vicious."

"Ah huh."

"Besides, my eyes don't make me look stupid," he muttered. "You just can't see properly if anything."

Emerald slammed the book she was looking through onto the desk. She spun her chair around and glared at Mercury, who was lying down on his bed. "At least my eyes aren't the same colour as our enemy."

"What are you talking about?" he wondered. "I don't think any of our enemies have grey eyes."

"Grey," she scoffed. "Only a man would think them grey."

"That's sexist!"

"What I mean is that men tend to not distinguish colours properly," she said.

"Slightly less sexist!"

She glared at him. "You've had your eyes for your entire life, but you can't even tell that they are silver."

He raised an eyebrow at her. Then he burst out laughing.

She furrowed her brow. "What's so funny?"

"You!" he tried to control his laughter. "You think my eyes are silver?"

"They are."

He wiped a tear from his eye. "That's good. Nice joke, Em. But we both know that they are grey. Ruby's eyes are silver, mine are grey. There is a difference."

"Look in a mirror," she grumbled, "and stop bugging me."

He furrowed his brow and stood up. He walked into the washroom and did look at himself in the mirror. Mercury leaned toward the mirror and looked at his eyes. There didn't seem to be a colour change. They were grey. He sighed and hung his head down. Emerald got her facts wrong. His eyes were grey.

Grey.

Not silver.

Not like Ruby's eyes.

Not like his father's eyes.

His eyes were grey. Not silver.

And Mercury would rather die than admit they were.

* * *

Ozpin knew that there were criminals among his school. He was the headmaster of Beacon, one of the best huntress and huntsmen school in all of Remnant. He had connections. A lot of connections. Not only a connection with an Atlas general, but other smaller connections. But enough connections in the Vale Police Force in order to find criminal records.

Such records that a few students had.

It didn't matter much to Ozpin where the students came from. But he did like to know where some students may be going with their lives, or how they think. A professor cannot complete their work unless they help the students. And this was his way of helping students.

When an ex-criminal enters his school (whether foreign exchange or not), he thinks of it as them turning a new leaf. Qrow and his sister came from bandits, Blake from the White Fang, Emerald from thievery, Jaune from forging transcripts, and Mercury from Marcus Black.

Marcus Black.

It would be a lie if one said that there wasn't an infinitesimal amount of joy in Ozpin's heart when he heard the news of Marcus' death.

Marcus Black. An assassin. One never caught for his assassinations, but by a housefire—so it seems. Ozpin wondered if there was something else to it, but never pried. It wasn't his job. And it seems that Marcus would never do his again. As unfortunate as a death is, when someone who kills people as a recreational activities goes… there's a lot more cheer in the air than gloom.

Though Ozpin would never admit it, he was concerned about what could possibly kill a professional assassin like Marcus. A housefire? No. It didn't seem likely. There was something else at work there. But, as long as they didn't keep up with it, he would let it slide that once.

It was a shame, though, that Marcus died before Ozpin could try and heal his corrupted soul. He knew that Marcus was a silver eyed warrior, yes, but he also knew that the man needed his space. He was waiting until Marcus would tire from his 'job' and might be able to convince. The age of a silver eyed warrior does not matter as long as the ability is still intact. And seeing as none of Marcus' victims died from his ability, it was safe to say it is.

Or was.

Since Marcus was dead.

Summer is also gone.

Two silver eyed warriors. Useless.

And the only one he has now is a fifteen-year-old girl. Teenage girls are always emotional. A silver eyed teenage girl. This would be interesting. If it didn't backfire on him. Ozpin's seen his share of teenage girls (being as old as he is, he's seen people be born, grow up, and die. This is nothing new) and his share of their emotions. Even to him, women and girls are incomprehensible.

But, Marcus Black is dead. Summer is gone. Like stated above, two silver eyed warriors were gone. This was terrible. Ozpin had Summer's daughter at his school, so at least he has one silver eyed warrior that he could protect. That was good. But Marcus…

Has a son.

A silver haired son. A son who transferred from Haven. A son who could possibly have silver eyes.

It was improbable, really. Silver eyes are rare. And though they are hereditary, they were also a recessive gene. Any dominant gene would overcome the silver eyes. They were also commonly confused with grey eyes. Quite a disappointment, really, grey eyes. So close to silver, yet so far.

Besides, if Marcus' son was really his son then he would have received training from him. He wouldn't trust Ozpin at all. He would also be a good suspect in his father's death. Ozpin knew how Marcus acted—at least while out—and he couldn't imagine the man changing much while at his home. The son was still young, though, and Ozpin could work with that.

All he wants is to lead him from the darkness that his father probably sent his soul on.

(And to stop Salem, of course.)

Ozpin, of course, promptly told Glynda to call up Mercury to his office. He had something to talk about with the young man. He didn't tell Glynda why he wanted to talk with Mercury, of course. She did as he had instructed and, sooner than later, the elevator door dinged and opened. There stood Mercury Black. He looked around carefully before stepping into room.

"Ah, Mr. Black," Ozpin greeted, "have a seat." He gestured to the chairs in front of his desk.

"Thanks," Mercury grumbled as he sat down.

Ozpin tried to catch his eye, but the lighting made Mercury's eyes look much like his surname—black.

"Now," Ozpin started, "do you know why I called you here?"

"No," Mercury replied. "Why?"

"Can I ask you a simple question first?" Ozpin wondered.

Mercury shifted in his seat. "That depends on the question."

Ozpin smiled slightly. "Can you tell me what colour your eyes are?"

Mercury blinked. "Grey."

Ozpin nodded, not fully believing him.

"What is with people and my eyes today?" Mercury muttered.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, that was surprising. "Do you care to elaborate?" he wondered.

"It's just…" Mercury mentally debated for a moment. "One of my teammates, Emerald made a mention of my eyes earlier. Though I think it was because I was messing with her eyes earlier."

"Interesting." Ozpin took a sip from his cup. "And what did she say?"

"It doesn't matter."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow and remained silent.

"She just tried to mess with me and the colour of my eyes. She was wrong, by the way. So it doesn't matter," Mercury assured. "Why am I here?"

"I wanted to talk about something that piqued my interest, that's all," Ozpin explained. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble."

Mercury furrowed his brow.

"Mr. Black," Ozpin started, "how much do you know about silver eyed warriors?"

"What?"

"Silver eyed warriors," Ozpin repeated. "Have you heard about them before?"

He thought for a moment. "Yeah," He said. "A long time ago. Why does it matter?"

Ozpin raised his eyebrows, that piqued his interest some more. "Really?" he wondered. "That's interesting. Who told you about these warriors? Your father?"

Mercury glared at him. "What does it matter?"

Ozpin eased off, "I can see I hit a sore spot. My apologises." He took another sip from his cup. "If I had a father like Marcus Black, though, I may also react like that."

The young man in front of him tensed up. "What do you know about my father?" he demanded.

Ozpin smiled behind his mug. He placed it down, and the smile vanished. "I know a lot of information about Marcus—my condolences. I heard about what happened. A tragedy."

"Yeah," Mercury avoided Ozpin's gaze, "a 'tragedy'."

"What I wanted to talk to you about is what your father may have said about these silver eyed warriors," Ozpin explained. "I would asked him himself, but… he was already passed before I got the chance to."

Mercury sighed, "I don't remember much of what he said. Just… the person recruiting them was a bastard—or something like that. He didn't like them. It makes sense I guess."

"What do you mean?"

Mercury closed the walls that were about to crumble. "Nothing."

Ozpin nodded. "Mr. Black," he thought, "did your father say your eyes were grey? Or was that your own judgement?"

"Why does it matter?" Mercury demanded. "I don't see any purpose to this conversation."

"Can you please just answer my question. Then you can leave."

Mercury looked up at Ozpin. Staring at him, unafraid. "It's my own. Can I go now?"

Ozpin saw a little glint of silver from the assassin's eyes. He hid his smile. "You have silver eyes."

Mercury glared at him. "No I don't. I don't get why people keep saying that. My eyes are grey. My hair—silver. My eyes—grey. End of conversation."

Ozpin smiled. "Very well. You may leave."

Mercury stood up and made his way towards the door. He pushed the down button and waited for the elevator to open. As the doors open, Ozpin called out:

"I'd be careful of who I make enemies of, Mr. Black," he warned, "or you could end up much like your father."

Mercury glared at him, seething, but said nothing. The elevator's door closed, and Mercury began his descend.

Ozpin slumped back in his chair. Exasperated.

What exactly did Marcus do to this child?

* * *

Mercury didn't go straight to his dorm. He didn't want to face Cinder or Emerald and be bombarded with questions. Instead, he took a U-turn and headed around Beacon. He decided to take the long way around the school. By going the opposite room as the dorm and walking around the building.

Why did Ozpin demand so much about his eyes? It was stupid. His eyes were grey, not silver. His eyes were too dark to be silver. Besides, why did Ozpin know so much about his father. Marcus wasn't a famous assassin. No one who knew him knew that he was an assassin. Much less that his son was one as well. Though, it seems that Ozpin didn't know that he was also an assassin. That was good.

It Ozpin knew, then he may have had to kill him.

If that was even possible.

Mercury looked up at the sky. The sun was setting. Curfew would be soon. He didn't care. He had much to think about. He breathed in the garden air and tried to relax. Though that was impossible since he was always alert. It was something his father's training made him become.

He ignored the thought and looked up at the bold sky. The colours scattered across the sky, much like the moon. Broken. Yellow, red, orange, and pink ombres. It was beautiful. Beautiful in an actual beauty way—not in a morbid way. He almost smiled. Almost.

He found a bench and sat down. Since he wanted to blow time, he decided to watch the sunset. Ha. An assassin watching the sunset. It was laughable. Almost more so when someone joined him.

"Mercury?" a voice called, uncertain.

He turned and saw a surprised Ruby Rose.

"Ruby?" he asked. "What could you be doing out here this late?"

"I was taking a walk," she explained. "I guess you are as well."

He nodded. "I needed to clear my head."

"Oh." She paused. "Can I join you?"

No. Never in a thousand years.

"Sure!"

Ruby sat beside him. Timid. Mercury didn't say anything. He let out a large exhale. After a few moments, Ruby spoke.

"So, um, Mercury," she started.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering… what kind of weapons do you have?"

He blinked. This was shocking. "What?"

She blushed. "Its—not—sorry—um… sorry! I shouldn't have asked! It's just… I'm pretty much a weapon geek… and I don't think I've seen your weapons before…"

He raised an eyebrow.

Remember what Cinder said: get close to them.

Screw Cinder.

He really hated this.

Hiding his hatred, Mercury crossed one leg over the other. "Gun boots," he explained simply, "that's what I use."

Ruby's eyes gleamed. He cringed slightly when he saw the silver colouring sparkle. "That's so cool!" she exclaimed. Then she started to bombard him with question about how his boots work, the dust he uses, bullets, and other things he wasn't able to understand.

"Uh…" he started. "I didn't hear anything you said."

She blushed again. "Sorry! I told you I was a weapon geek…"

"It's fine."

No it's not.

She smiled and was about to say something before her scroll chimed. She pulled it out. "Oh! I have to go!" She looked at him. "Thanks for letting me see your weapons!"

"You didn't even see th—"

She took off before he could finish. She used her semblance.

Speed must be her semblance. Neat.

Mercury pulled out his scroll after the sun set and saw that it was technically passed curfew. He swore and stood up before quietly heading towards his dorm. He opened the door (after not getting caught by teachers) to see an unhappy Cinder.

"Uh, hi?" he greeted.

She pulled him inside before shutting the door behind him. "Where were you?" she demanded. "You were supposed to come back here after the meeting."

"I did," he said. "I just took the long way."

Cinder glared at him. "What did you talk about?"

He moved and sat down on his bed. Emerald was in the chair she was earlier, apparently, she finished what she was looking at earlier.

"Nothing much," he shrugged, "we're not caught if that's what your wondering. He's none the wiser."

"That's good and all," Emerald added, "but what did you talk about?"

Mercury thought for a moment. "He asked me a question, I answered, we chatted, and I left."

"Your avoiding the question," Cinder said. "Mercury, what did he ask?"

"He asked me what colour my eyes were," Mercury admitted. "There. Happy? See, I told you—nothing important."

Cinder look lost in thought. "And what was your answer?"

"Grey," he said, "cause they are. What is with everyone and my eyes today?"

Cinder didn't hear him. "And what did you talk about?"

"Something about… silver eyed warriors," he explained. "Like that means anything."

She looked at him, fire in her amber eyes. "Anything else? Did he talk about anything else?"

Mercury thought. I'm keep personal business personal. "No. Shortly after that, I left."

"Are you sure?" she demanded. "Nothing else? Nothing at all?"

He furrowed his brow. "Yeah. He talked about nothing else."

Cinder nodded before thinking. "And what did you say about the silver eyed warriors?"

"That I've heard about them before. That's all. Weren't they in a fairy-tale or something?"

"Did he mention your father?" Cinder wondered.

Mercury blinked. "What?"

"Your father, Marcus Black, did he mention him?"

"What? No! I doubt that he knows we're related. Black is a common surname," Mercury explained. "Why?"

Cinder sighed, "Nothing. It's fine. We just have to be extra careful around Ozpin."

"Weren't we before?" Emerald wondered.

"Even more careful," Cinder said. "I think he may suspect something isn't right. We need to fix that." She turned to him, "If anyone else mentions silver eyed warriors again, you tell me immediately. You understand?"

"Yeah. But what's so special about them?" he wondered.

Aw… Cinder's acting like a momma bear! She does care!

I'll taunt her about that later.

"Nothing you need to be concerned about." Cinder brushed him off.

"Really?" he asked. "Because I just met up with Ruby and she has silver eyes. Much like silver eyed warriors…"

Cinder turned to face him. "I already know that. But she's too inexperienced to be a warrior."

"Not if Ozpin trains her," Emerald mentioned.

"But he won't," Cinder assured, "he won't get the chance too. Especially with the Vytal Festival going on. He'll be too busy."

"I suppose…" Emerald agreed.

"Mercury," Cinder ordered, "pretend that you didn't tell us about this. It would be better if Ozpin didn't know we know about the silver eyed warriors."

"Got it," he assured.

"Good," Cinder said. "Now. Everyone get some rest. Tiredness will only handicap you."

* * *

When he was five, his father first told him about them. There wasn't much information to go along with it, but he received a warning:

"Don't let anyone know you have silver eyes."

It was an odd concept for a five-year-old. Lying about eye colour. It made no sense. But he followed his father's instruction. He wanted to make his father proud!

When he was ten, he managed to make his first friend. He wasn't allowed out into the nearby town much, but once he was permitted to join his father on a trip. He tagged behind his father as they walked through the market, it was packed full of people—just like how his father liked it.

"Less chance of getting caught." He would say.

And apparently it was easy to get lost in as well. Because soon he found himself lost. He tried to find his father but couldn't. He almost cried. Then a voice in the back of his head yelled at him:

"You're an assassin! Stop crying and do something!"

So the ten-year-old took to walking through the streets. Looking for the familiar form of his father. He didn't manage to find him, but he found someone else. A friend.

His friend helped him by escorting him out of the crowd and into a large abandoned building.

"Thank you," he said.

"No problem." Friend smiled. "What's your name?"

He told him.

"Ah," Friend nodded, "I'm [Forgotten]."

"Have you seen my dad?" he asked.

"What does he look like?" Friend asked.

He gave him a description of what his father looked like.

Friend shook his head. "Nope. Haven't seen him. So you're alone right?"

He nodded.

"That's… too bad."

Before he knew it, some of Friend's friends came and surrounded him. They told him that it was initiation into their friend group. But he said he didn't want to join their group. He was content with just Friend.

Well, Friend didn't like this. And Friend hurt him. Hurt him really badly.

He felt so weak that he decided to listen to his father. His father told him to never be weak. But he was weak now. So he decided to not be weak anymore.

When his father found him, half an hour later, he was covered in blood. Surrounded by dead bodies.

When he was ten, he made his first and last friend.

When he was fifteen, he became resentful.

He demanded that his father tell him why he has to hide his eye colour. Why he has to lie. Why everything is as it is.

And his father, not drunk for once, listened.

He told him about the silver eyed warriors, and about a professor who wanted to train them. He was told that the professor was an idiot who had foolish hopes. He was told that it was critical that he keeps the secret of his eye colour a secret.

Then he killed him.

And he met her.

And he joined her.

And he kept it a secret for two years.

And now his secret is about to be found out.

And this was not good.

He was told that if he was found out, he would die.

Well… you do either get murdered or you kill yourself.

Neither of that was a pleasant option.

When he was seventeen, he felt his whole world crumble.

* * *

Mercury's eyes shot awake. He could see a dark ceiling above him. His breathing rapid, suddenly it felt very warm in the room. He sighed and grabbed his scroll. He looked at the time:

3:45 am.

It was too early for this.

He laid back in bed and covered his eyes with his arm. Maybe he could fall asleep.

After waiting what felt like an hour, Mercury sighed and grabbed at his scroll.

3:49 am.

He groaned and closed his eyes.

Well, he wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon.

He wanted to sleep. But nooooo his stupid mind had to conquer up memories he would rather forget. Memories he thought he burrowed away. But apparently, he hadn't burrowed them away good enough. Now it's going to take a few more years to completely forget them.

Stupid Ozpin.

If only he hadn't talked to Mercury, then he wouldn't be remembering things. He could be sleeping now.

And now Mercury couldn't disappear like his father since he would have both sides of this war looking for him.

Just great.

Way to go, Merc. A+ buddy.

He stared at the ceiling. It wasn't even like he could walk around, there was curfew, and he couldn't tune up his prosthetics since his team would hear him. He was trapped with only his mind to keep him company. Mercury groaned once more.

He would have groaned again if he wasn't hit with a bundle of paper

He looked at the scrunched ball and unfolded it. Using his scroll as light he read what it is:

'Why are you groaning? You hurt or something?'

If it was Emerald, she would have slapped him. Cinder would have demanded why she was woken up. This meant it was only Neo left to be the culprit.

Mercury almost forgot about the Neapolitan dressed girl. It helps that she doesn't say anything.

He looked up and saw Neo sitting on her bed, unamused.

She typed something onto her scroll.

'Stop making so much noise. I was trying to sleep.'

Mercury sighed and turned on his scroll. He typed as well.

'Sorry

'Emerald's snoring woke me'

Right on cue, Emerald snored loudly.

Neo sighed. 'I don't believe you. But whatever. Just don't wake me up again.'

'K'

Neo shut off her scroll and flipped onto her side. Mercury turned his off as well and laid down on his bed. He kept staring at the ceiling. Eventually he closed his eyes once more.

He finally fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

The next few days were hell for Mercury.

Firstly: Ruby was trying to be chummier with him. He played along since he had a cover to maintain, but he hated it. She kept asking him questions about his weapons. He answered, of course, but kept them very vague. It seemed to please her.

Secondly: It seemed that Cinder was watching him more carefully. Before, she wouldn't even look at him when they were at lessons—but it seems that she was now observing his every movement. It made him shiver, but he acted like he didn't notice her. He was an assassin, of course he would notice.

Thirdly: Qrow Branwen arrived. It didn't seem like he recognised Mercury from the fight with Amber—but it was uneasy. It seemed like the drunken man was also keeping an eye on him. Mercury knew that Qrow worked with Ozpin, so he must be doing Ozpin a favour—or something among those lines.

So now he was getting more attention than he liked.

Both team RWBY and JNPR were chatting with him like they were friends. Even though one of Mercury's skills is espionage, Emerald was supposed to be getting closer with them. It seemed like their roles reversed. Now he was 'hanging' with his new 'friends'. It was like before, just without Emerald for most of the time. She was doing something, Mercury didn't exactly know what it was.

But he wished that he was doing what she was doing instead.

Currently, he was sitting with team RWBY and JNPR at lunch. The rest of Mercury's team was off doing something else. He could spot Neo across the cafeteria, probably eating some ice cream. He tuned out of the conversation until Ruby tapped his arm.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing much." She smiled. "We were just talking about Yang's semblance and how her eyes turn red. Then we got onto the topic of eye colours."

"It's like everyone is obsessed with eye colours," Mercury grumbled. "Why do they matter so much? It's just the colour of our irises."

"Really?" Yang asked. "Then what colour are my eyes."

"Violet."

She shook her head. "Lilac."

"Cool," He said, emotionless.

"So," Nora started, "you and Ruby have silver eyes!"

He blinked. "No. I have grey. Not silver."

"Are you sure?" she wondered.

"100% positive that my eyes are grey." He nodded. "Besides, who knows my eyes better than myself?"

She screwed up her face in thought. "Hmmm…. Okay!"

And just like that, they went back to their own conversation.

Mercury finished his lunch and got up from the table.

"Where are you going?" Weiss demanded.

"I'm just going to take a walk around, don't worry about it," he assured.

"Have fun!" Ruby called.

He slightly nodded before leaving the cafeteria. The loud conversation between the two teams died out. He thrived in the silence. Mercury walked around Beacon, noticing some of the other students were eating outside. It made sense, it was a beautiful day. He just needed to be alone with his thoughts. There wasn't much time lately where he was able to be just alone. Someone would always be with him; whether it was Ruby, Emerald, or Cinder.

He mustn't have noticed where he was walking because he almost walked into a figure.

"Hey! Watch it!" a gruff voice called.

"Sorry." Mercury froze. He smelt a strong stench of alcohol, much like his fathers. Looking up he saw the tired face of Qrow Branwen.

Shi—

Mercury moved to walk around him when Qrow reached out his arm and stopped him.

"Hold it," the Huntsman said, "have I seen you before?"

Mercury shrugged. "I don't think so. But I have one of those faces."

Qrow looked like he didn't believe him. "Wait a second. You're that guy who has been recently hanging around my nieces."

"I think your mistaking me for that Arc guy," Mercury suggested.

Qrow shook his head. "No, I haven't seen him alone with them yet. But I have seen you…"

"I think your mistaken." Mercury shrugged. "That happens to people. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have places to be."

Once again, he tried to leave, once again Qrow stopped him.

I could break your arm right now and kill you without hesitation.

Remember what Cinder said.

Screw what Cinder said.

"What's your name?" Qrow asked.

"What's yours?" he snapped. Then recoiled. He didn't mean to snap at Qrow, but he didn't like to be talking to the Huntsman alone. This was a position he didn't like to be in.

Remember your training.

That I can do.

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "Qrow Branwen."

Huh. So he actually gave him his name. Mercury already knew it, of course. But Qrow did go first, it would be rude to not at least tell him. "Mercury."

"Mercury what?"

"Black."

Qrow nodded. "You know, I used to know a man by the name of Black. Don't know what happened to him though."

Mercury didn't say anything regarding that sentence. Though he figured that Qrow was referencing his father.

"I have a place to be, so if you could move….?" Mercury tried again.

"Where are you heading?" Qrow wondered.

Mercury looked up at him, his brow furrowed. The man's red eyes stared down at him. "I'm about to meet my team in our dorm."

"Huh." Qrow thought for a moment. "Hey, why don't I come with you? I haven't been to Beacon in some time. Good idea to look around again."

"Why don't you ask your nieces?" Mercury wondered. "They probably know it better."

"How so?"

Is he playing the fool? Or is he really stupid? "I'm an exchange from Haven for the Vytal Festival."

Qrow raised his eyebrows at this. "Oh? Wouldn't have guessed."

Mercury looked down at his outfit. He was wearing the Haven uniform.

"Well, I have to go. Nice talking with you, Mr. Branwen—"

"Call me Qrow."

"—Qrow," Mercury corrected, "but I have to leave now."

He turned and managed to walk passed Qrow. The man disappeared from both his peripheral vision and hearing. Mercury let out a sigh of relief.

What did Qrow want from him?

* * *

So this was kid Oz warned me about?

Qrow walked down the path. He was heading towards Ozpin's office and accidentally bumped into Mercury.

It was totally an accident.

He wasn't following the kid.

Totally.

Ozpin had warned Qrow of another silver eyed warrior—one besides from Ruby. But for them to be a Black.

Of course, Qrow knew that he was Marcus Black's son—Ozpin had told him what he knew about Mercury. He wanted for Qrow to learn more information about him. This wouldn't be easy. From the interaction Qrow just had with Mercury, he seemed to be secretive about his information. He didn't even want to tell Qrow his name until he knew Qrow's first.

And if what Ozpin said was correct, then he could not know he is a silver eyed warrior. Or the fact his father was. Or the fact that he has silver eyes. He told Ozpin that he has grey eyes. Something wasn't adding up… did Marcus do something to Mercury while he was younger. No. Marcus didn't care enough about people to give a warning about anything.

He was selfish.

A selfish bastard.

Qrow had his work cut out for him. Not only does he have to worry about Amber's coma, but he has to keep watch over a student. He had to be extra vigilant since the people who attacked Amber could be trying to attack her again. They wouldn't know where she was, though, and that gave them the upper hand.

That woman…

Those two kids…

One with dark skin and one with prosthetics.

What could have led them down that path that they attacked an innocent girl? Without a doubt, Amber wouldn't have done anything to initiate the battle. She was too kind-hearted. They attacked her deliberately because of the Fall Maiden's powers. They attacked, almost killed her, scarred her, and placed her in a coma.

People like them… they don't deserve to be.

Ozpin already theorised that they worked for Salem. It made sense. Having control over one of the most powerful people in the world was smart. Too bad it meant that those kids were now his enemy. If they got into a fight, he would be responsible for bringing them down.

As much as Qrow dislikes fighting kids… they chose the path they'll take.

They'll have to face the consequences of their actions.

The good news was that Ozpin could focus on training Mercury and leave his niece out of this. It wasn't her battle. It wasn't any of their battles. They were just… thrown in the middle of a battle they shouldn't have to fight.

The only flaw with the plan is that Mercury seems to be in denial of his silver eyes.

That was not good.

Qrow would have to fix that.

Because there was no way in hell that that boy's eyes are grey.

Qrow's seen silver eyes.

His niece has silver eyes.

That boy has silver eyes.

Whether or not he accepts it.

* * *

Mercury actually went to the dorm, surprisingly. It was empty. That made sense, it was lunch and people were out eating. He walked over to this bed and sat down. He rolled up his pant leg and placed one leg over the other.

Since he had nothing else to do, he decided to do some quick maintenance on his legs. He checked all of the screws (discovering one that was starting to get loose. It was an easy fix with the screwdriver that he keeps on his person) and the dust compartments—which were full. He then checked his other leg.

As he was finishing up his maintenance on his last leg, a crow cawed from outside the window.

"Shut up!" he ordered the bird. He went back to finishing replacing a screw.

The crow cawed again and again and again and again… and Mercury got fed up.

He jumped to his feet—accidentally dropped the new screw on the floor and it rolled under his bed—and marched over to the window. He opened it and waved his hand at the crow in the tree.

"Go away!" he demanded.

The bird got scared away by him and left the assassin alone.

Mercury sighed before closing the window and turning around.

"Now," he said, "where's that screw?"

It wasn't on the bed. He sighed, realising that it must have rolled onto the floor. He carefully lowered himself down (which was difficult when one of his legs wouldn't bend without the screw) and reached under his bed. After a few minutes of fumbling around, he found it.

Mercury crawled up from under the bed and sat down.

"Found you, sucker," he said to the screw.

He grabbed his screwdriver and began screwing in the screw.

Finally! He was able to bend his leg!

He sighed in relief and rolled down his pant leg. Mercury then stood up and pocketed his screwdriver. He placed the extra screws away.

He then left the room and headed down the hallway. He had classes that were about to start.

Including Prof. Goodwitch's sparring class.

* * *

Standing atop a building during the Battle of Beacon, Mercury filmed.

Cinder had just left him and Emerald alone. They should be safe, away from the battle but close enough to film the disaster.

No one knew where they were.

That was good.

While he filmed, Emerald watched the invasion. Neither of them said anything for a while.

"Hold up," Mercury said, "is that Qrow down there?"

"Where?" She tried to spot him.

He pointed over in the direction of where he could see the Huntsman. "There—"

He froze.

Qrow turned and looked directly at Mercury. Though, that was impossible. He shouldn't be able to see them from where he was. Though… Qrow's eyes seem to bore straight into him.

"Uh, Em," Mercury started, "I think you should film from now."

"I thought you volunteered," Emerald mentioned.

"I did," he assured, "but there's something I may have to do."

She sighed but grabbed the scroll from his hands.

While Emerald filmed, Mercury walked over to the corner of the roof. Qrow's eyes followed him. He turned to General Ironwood while keeping his eyes on the assassin. He said something to him, much to the general's displeasure. Then Qrow took off.

Mercury furrowed his brow at that.

"I'll be back," he said to Emerald before he jumped off of the roof.

"What do you—hey!" she called to him.

He landed onto the other roof and took off.

* * *

Qrow waited for the silver eyed boy. Harbinger was out, waiting to strike. Qrow waited on the top of a building. Off to the side from the middle of the battle. He knew that Marcus raised this kid and he shouldn't be surprised, but he is.

To think, the same boy who became friends with his niece was the same one who attacked Amber.

And he only found out by trailing him back to his room and watching him fix up his prosthetics.

It may be true that he didn't see what their faces looked like, but he surely remembers someone not having legs.

Qrow watched as Mercury propelled himself to the top of the roof. He narrowed his eyes at the boy's carefree nature.

"What's the matter?" Mercury wondered, a smirk on his face. He noticed Qrow's hate. "Not enjoying the show?"

"A show?" Qrow asked. "You think this is a show?"

"Finest entertainment in all of Remnant."

Qrow gripped Harbinger tighter. "Entertainment? This is not entertainment. People are dying down there, risking their lives for the safety of everyone! And you think this is entertainment?"

"Yes." Mercury cracked his knuckles. "You see, I've become too accustomed to death that I now find it hilarious."

"Just like your father."

Mercury glared at Qrow, clenching his fists. "What."

Qrow looked at Mercury. "Your father, Marcus Black, used to be an esteemed Huntsman. Until he went rouge and started to become an assassin. No one knows why he did, but I know. Oh, do I know.

"Marcus was insane. He enjoyed fighting Grimm. He loved it. But after defeating a small post of White Fang, he decided that fighting and killing people were better. So he left," Qrow explained. "After missions, I would hear stories of him laughing over the bodies of the White Fang he killed.

"Before, I couldn't see the family resemblance," Qrow pointed out, "but now I do."

"I don't know if this is a big surprise to you," Mercury started, "but I don't care for my father. If I did, I wouldn't have killed him."

"I would say I'm surprised," Qrow watched Mercury seize him up, "but I'm not. If Marcus was my father, I may have killed him as well."

"How did you spot us?" Mercury demanded.

"Standing on the edge of a building is not the smartest idea if you don't want to get spotted," Qrow explained.

"So what are you going to do?" he wondered. "Don't you have a responsibility to protect the people? Why are you spending your time with me?"

"So do you," Qrow said. "You also have that responsibility."

"No, I don't." Mercury shook his head. "I'm the enemy—remember?"

"You're also a silver eyed warrior," Qrow reminded, "and they are warriors who protect the people. Why do you turn on your responsibilities?"

"You're sounding oddly like Ozpin," Mercury pointed out.

"Well, when you spend time around him you tend to pick up things," Qrow explained. "But you still didn't answer me."

"You're wrong," Mercury insisted, "I'm not a silver eyed warrior."

"But you don't have grey eyes," Qrow noted, "your eyes are silver. That's a rare trait. I only know three—now two people with that."

"It means nothing."

"So you're not denying your eye colour?"

"Fine." Mercury gritted out. "If it would make you shut up, I'll admit it. I have silver eyes. There. Now, you're either going to fight me or I'll kill you. I may just kill you anyway."

"I know you don't want this," Qrow locked eyes with Mercury, the silver-haired teen glared, "but I'm gonna help you. You're not too far down this path."

Mercury laughed.

"What's so funny?" Qrow demanded.

"You're acting like I can be saved," he explained. "But it's too late. Besides, the only reason you're doing this is because of my eyes—don't deny it. It's no use. You can't 'help' me."

"Mercury," Qrow started, "I'm not only doing this because of your eyes. You've been dealt a bad hand in life, that shouldn't make it so that you should die."

Mercury growled, "Just fight me already!"

He lunged at Qrow before jumping and firing at him. The Huntsman dodged the bullets. He reached out his scythe and created an arc in the air with the blade. It caught Mercury in his ankle and Mercury fired a round before it could take off his leg. It did tear off the bottom of Mercury's pant legs, leaving only his weapons and the pants above the shin left.

He growled and started to rapidly fire at Qrow. The Huntsman dodged almost all the bullets, a few managed to bounce off his aura. Mercury fired air dust rounds into the sky and they aimed at Qrow. The Huntsman got bombarded with shell after shell.

The smoke lingered for a moment and Mercury relaxed.

Fighting a trained Huntsman was easier than it seemed.

Mercury started to walk away when one of his screws popped out of his leg. It rolled out of his pant leg and into the smoke. He hissed as he suddenly lost the ability to properly walk on his left leg.

"You missing something?"

Mercury turned to see Qrow standing in the middle of a small impact crater. The smoke was fading, and Mercury saw that he was holding up the screw for his leg.

"You mind passing it back?" he asked, holding out his right arm—the left was gripping his leg, keeping it from tumbling under his weight.

Qrow pocketed the screw. "No. At least, not yet."

Harbinger fell back into the sword form and Mercury gulped—an action Qrow almost missed.

Qrow opened his mouth to say something when a huge Grimm dragon screeched across Vale. They both looked up and saw it fly over head, dropping Grimm puddles. It was heading towards Beacon Tower. Qrow glared in wrath while Mercury smirked.

"Are you going to stop that?" he wondered.

Qrow turned to him. "I have to deal with you first."

"And what exactly are you going to do? Hmm? Arrest me?"

"Sort of."

Mercury furrowed his brow at that. "What do you mean? There's either arresting me or not arresting me. You can't 'sort of' arrest me."

"Well," Qrow started, "I am a Huntsman, I get certain privileges."

"So?"

"So." He started to walk over to Mercury, who tried to step back from the Huntsman but forgot the fact that his left leg didn't work correctly. He fell to the ground. "Ouch," Qrow hissed for Mercury. "Anyway, I also work for Oz—and that means I have contacts in a lot of places."

"I'm still not understanding where this is going," Mercury said.

That's right. Get closer. Then I can attack you, grab the screw, hobble away, and fix my leg.

"It means that I'm going to have you arrested," Qrow explained. He crouched down beside Mercury as to look him in the eyes. "But I'm going to have you accompany me to where we have to go to stop Salem."

Mercury gulped.

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You've heard of her? Not surprising. You probably work for her."

Mercury didn't correct his mistaken fact.

"But anyway—"

Before Qrow could continue, Mercury used his right leg and fired at the man's chest. It blew Qrow back a few metres. Mercury got to his working foot and used the boots (which still worked) to propel away from Qrow. Qrow sighed and aimed Harbinger at Mercury.

While he was in the air, Mercury felt something solid hit his side.

Pain flared across his vision and he fell towards the ground.

Once he impacted with the cement, everything went black.

* * *

"Your name is Mercury Black?"

A sigh. "Yes."

"And you are seventeen years old?"

"Yes."

"And you were present at the Battle of Beacon?"

Another sighed. "Yes. I already told you this."

He was ignored. "And your father is the deceased Marcus Black."

"No."

"Mr. Black…"

He groaned, "Fine. Yes. He was my father."

"And why were you present at the Battle of Beacon?"

He glared. "I was filming the demise. It was my orders. I helped make it happen, might as well film it for everyone to see."

Mercury looked at the person in front of them. They were a useless nobody who worked for Atlas Military. Their semblance was a lie detector test. So Mercury was being interrogated by Lie Detector (as he had dubbed them) because it was the only way that Ironwood would even think of accepting Qrow's offer.

Lie Detector turned to the General, who was standing behind a one-way mirror. "He has not lied about anything."

Ironwood must have said something to Lie Detector because they dropped Mercury's wrist (connecting through the wrist, where the pulse was, was how Lie Detector was able to tell if someone was lying). They stood up and turned towards the door. Mercury leaned back—or as far back as his handcuffs would allow him.

He was handcuffed to a metal bar on the middle of the table. The handcuffs were specially made to counter auras. Since his prosthetic legs couldn't be detached, they were also cuffed. Luckily, someone managed to fix the missing screw while he was unconscious. He wore his jacket, but his rerebraces and vambraces were gone; and his dust rounds were confiscated.

The door opened, and Ironwood walked inside. He wore a fresh uniform, his arms hidden behind his back. He nodded to Lie Detector and they left the two alone in the room.

Ironwood walked over to the table and sat in the chair across from Mercury. He didn't say anything for some time.

The teenager sighed, "Are you just going to sit in silence for the whole day or…?"

"No," Ironwood said, "I was just proving my point."

"Which is?"

"Nothing you need to be concerned about."

Mercury frowned at the general. "Well, I have all day. Take as long as you want."

"I would," Ironwood assured, "but I have a schedule."

"That doesn't matter to me."

"But it will," he promised, "because if this take to long then you will spend the rest of your life rotting in prison."

Mercury didn't respond.

"I would never do this for any other prisoner, but a… friend asked me for a favour," Ironwood explained. "And seeing as this is the second favour he asked of me, he can expect that he owes me for this double."

"So?"

"Mercury Black," Ironwood started, "you are an assassin, correct?"

"That's what they call me."

"The opportunity I am thinking over could be your way to freedom—or as free as you will get," Ironwood continued. "All you need to do is convince me to allow you this freedom."

"If you think I'm going to rat, then you're wrong." Mercury leaned forward. "I may not be loyal to a fault like someone I know, but I'm not going to go against my boss. Unlike you, she won't throw me in prison."

"Ah, yes." Ironwood nodded. "Ozpin had mentioned Salem before.

"Mercury," he said, "because you are here, you're in the same position as us in Salem's view. She doesn't know that you won't 'rat' as you call it. The next time she sees you, she may kill you."

"Well," he thought, "it's a good thing that she won't see me in prison."

"You really think that she won't send someone after you?" Ironwood wondered. "You know her secrets. That's a dangerous power."

"Listen," Mercury started, "I know nothing. I'm just a nobody who worked under someone under her. I haven't even been to where she is. You ain't getting anything from me."

"And that someone is Cinder Fall?"

Mercury furrowed his brow.

"We have witnesses to Cinder Fall killing an innocent girl. We know she led the Grimm attack against Beacon," Ironwood explained.

"The White Fang actually led that attack," Mercury mentioned. "Sorry to burst your bubble—but we only used that as a distraction. We had nothing to do with that."

"Mercury," Ironwood sighed, "we know about the Maidens, and we know that this Cinder Fall is the new Fall Maiden. We know a lot more than you may think—or even know yourself."

"Exactly," he nodded, "so why don't you take that knowledge and leave. I'm ain't telling you anything. Might as well throw me in prison."

Ironwood opened his mouth to speak again when someone communicating to him from behind the one-way mirror caught his attention. He glanced at the mirror, concerned. Whoever he was talking to said something else that he reconsidered.

Ironwood turned to Mercury. "You know," he said, "silver eyes are a rare trait."

Mercury clenched his fists and grinded his teeth. "Can people stop talking about my eyes!" he demanded. "It's nonsense."

"You obviously don't know about the dragon Grimm frozen on the top of Beacon Tower—my men are dealing with it now."

"I was knocked unconscious for most of the battle, sadly."

"I know," Ironwood admitted, "you were found unconscious as well."

Ironwood looked closely at Mercury's eyes. "Like I was saying before, there is a dragon Grimm frozen at the top of Beacon Tower. Do you know why it is there?"

Mercury shrugged. "Beats me."

"Another person with silver eyes froze it there." He explained.

"Ruby did it then."

Ironwood raised an eyebrow in surprise. "How did—"

"Qrow said that he only knew three silver eyed people," Mercury explained. "One I'm guessing is my father. Since Ruby isn't his niece, I'm guessing that one of her parents had silver eyes. It's simple genetics."

"Well, you are correct," Ironwood admitted. "So, you know what people with silver eyes can do."

"Doesn't mean I can do whatever it is she did," he protested. "I'm better off in prison."

"You would rather go to prison than listen to my proposition?" Ironwood wondered.

"Yeah."

The general thought for a moment. "What I am proposing is a sort of parole. You will be under the watch of Qrow Branwen everyday. You will train under him and whoever else he deems necessary in order to control your silver eyes—"

"You don't even know if I can do the silver eyes thing," Mercury interrupted.

"You will wear a tracker bracelet everyday until your sentence is over," the general continued. "You would not be permitted to preform any act of law breaking and you can only engage in battle against Grimm and in self-defence or, unless, you get explicit permission from Qrow or myself. You are not permitted a scroll and cannot contact anyone via one. You cannot buy or sell dust rounds—"

"That's what I mostly use for my weapons!" he mentioned.

"You will not be permitted to cause any bodily harm to anyone. You may not, in any situation, resort to murder—"

"What about man-slaughter?"

"Or man-slaughter," Ironwood said. "And you cannot send or receive any messages via the mail."

"That's it?" Mercury asked.

Ironwood nodded. "Now to answer your questions: you have silver eyes, that's more than enough proof of the ability; you are allowed to buy ammunition that are not dust; and no man-slaughter."

"What if I say no?"

"You will go to prison." Ironwood stood up. "You have one hour to decide. I'll be back then for your decision."

Ironwood turned and left Mercury alone in the room.

* * *

Qrow watched Mercury sit alone in the room. He had watched the conversation between Ironwood and the teenager.

Truth be told, he didn't know what he wanted Mercury to choose.

He couldn't forget what Mercury did to his niece, getting her arrested. He knew, of course, that his leg wound wasn't as bad as he represented it was. He knew about the prosthetics before then. Something did seem suspicious with it—but he wasn't able to talk with Mercury.

Looking back, he should have demanded to talk with him. He knew about the prosthetics, and so he should have demanded what actually happened out there.

He was also grateful that Ironwood agreed to this proposition. He knew that man didn't always agreed with Qrow—especially since Qrow tended to go with what Ozpin said, and Ironwood often argued.

But now he owed the man twice.

First was a prosthetic arm he asked to be made for Yang.

And now this.

Qrow was expecting to have to repay him big time for this.

He worried about Ruby and Yang. They were both back at Patch, and he would be heading there within the next two hours. It just depended on whether or not Mercury would come as well.

He still didn't know if he wanted to have Mercury with him or not.

It would be troublesome to have a person who couldn't fly go with him when he looks for Oz, but it would good to actually train a silver eyed warrior.

Maybe he could try and place him on a better path. Of course, Mercury would never go on a perfect path—but maybe Qrow could help him go on a path better than the one he is on.

All he could do was wait for the decision the teen had to make.

* * *

When Mercury first woke up, he was in the med bay. His arms were handcuffed to the sides of the bed. IV's were sticking out of his arms. It was the day after the Battle of Beacon, and the med bay was swamped with injured patients.

Unlike the other patients, though, he was isolated in his own section. He even had his own guards. It was weird, what exactly did they expect him to do?

His head ached badly, and his side felt like hell.

He silently groaned and looked around. He managed to see what the med bay looked like, and that it was early morning.

How long was he out for?

Apparently his moving managed to gain the attention of a wandering nurse. They walked over to him.

"How are you feeling?" the nurse asked. They didn't seem happy.

"Like hell," Mercury replied.

The nurse then checked on Mercury's vitals and deemed him healthy. Well, healthy enough to leave the bed; they needed it for another patient. He was then escorted out of the med bay and taken to the interrogation room, where he met Lie Detector.

Now he sat in the same interrogation room.

He didn't know if he wanted to accept the offer. It seemed suspicious. He also didn't want to learn about his eyes. Years of lying about them really gave him a bad vibe from them.

He almost laughed. He broke his father's number one rule: don't let anyone know about his eyes.

Even in death he was still upsetting his father.

Mercury also didn't want to rot in prison. He wanted to be out doing things. He never liked sitting around, waiting, he preferred hands-on experiences.

But could he survive living in prison?

Would he survive following Ironwood's rules?

He would be betraying Cinder and Salem.

He would have to possibly fight Emerald.

But he could also not fight them.

He would also have to wear a tracker… that didn't bode well with him. What kind of assassin let's their position be known.

Well, I suppose I won't be much of an assassin if I join them. I wouldn't be able to kill anyone.

It did sound tempting though…

Just because he agrees to the terms doesn't mean he couldn't break the rules. What they don't know can't hurt them. He could always learn everything from them and backstab them. And he could find out about the other Maidens. It would be easier for Cinder to know about them if he told her who they are and where they were.

But they would know that he didn't betray them if he was in prison.

That sounded better.

They would kill him in the other option.

Unless…

Mercury smiled.

He decided what he would be doing.

* * *

Ironwood opened the door to the interrogation room and walked inside.

Mercury was smirking at him.

Ironwood furrowed his brow. That seemed offsetting. Why would he be smirking?

"It has been one hour," he declared, "what's your decision."

Mercury smiled and opened his mouth.

"I accept."

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **So…**

 **Long, eh?**

 **This is about 9,000 words longer than I expected it to be.**

 **But what can you do? *Shrug***

 **Anyway. As I mentioned, I love Mercury and I love RWBY. So I decided to write this fic. It's pretty much a "what could have happened" fic.**

 **(I cannot write action scenes, sorry.)**

 **There was originally no plot for this. I wrote the first part at literally one a.m., spontaneously. Then I finished this in two days, because I have no life.**

 **This is chapter one of The Silver Eyed Assassin Series!**

 **And sorry about National Hospital… but we're sort of on a writer's block…**

 **You can yell at me through comments if you want.**

 **See yeah!**

 **Fiddlerinthewoods OUT!**


	2. Of Lies and Betrayal

**Hello!**

 **I'm back! And here is chapter two of the Silver Eyed Assassin series!**

 **CHAPTER SUMMERY:**

 ** _Mercury and Qrow depart for Patch, only for Qrow to dump Mercury at his nieces' house. Mercury has to live in the home of Yang and Ruby. This won't be too bad, right? What's worse is the fact that Mercury has orders to spy, and betray them. What can he do? Escape or kill? Ignore orders or accomplish them? That's his choice._**

 **Let's get right to this!**

 **I don't own RWBY.**

 **Enjoy!**

Patch was a small island, to the west of Vale. It was were Signal Academy was located—and where Qrow and Mercury were headed.

Since Qrow couldn't turn into a bird to fly there, they had to take an Air Bus to Patch.

The two waited at the terminal. There didn't seem to be anyone else at the terminal headed to Patch, most of the people were waiting for the bus that went to the outer cities of Vale. They didn't say anything. Qrow was leaning against a post, his flask in one hand. Mercury was sitting down on a bench, he was quietly fumbling with the tracker bracelet located on his ankle.

It was a chunky metal anklet that prevent him from using the dust compartments on his left boot. There was a small red light that showed that the tracker was still operational. Mercury was looking for a way to take off the tracker without alerting to Ironwood that he messed up the tracker. So far, he hadn't found a way yet.

"Stop messing with the tracker." Qrow's back was turned, he couldn't possibly know what Mercury was doing.

Mercury crossed his arms. "How'd you know?"

Qrow took a drink from his flask before putting it away. "Didn't."

"Then how'd—"

"You'd be a pretty bad assassin if you didn't try and figure out how to disarm the only thing keeping you from disappearing." Qrow turned to face him.

"So it was a lucky guess?"

"You could say that."

Mercury narrowed his eyes, unimpressed.

The two waited in silence for a few moments before Qrow sighed and checked the time. "The bus is late."

"Or not functioning," Mercury suggested, "since there _was_ just a major battle."

"Well, they better be running," Qrow muttered. "I have places to be."

"I know," Mercury sighed, he looked up at the night sky. "I have to come with."

"Hey, you're the one who accepted the offer," Qrow pointed out, "so stop complaining."

" _You're_ the one who suggested it to Ironwood," Mercury reminded. "You didn't _have_ to. So, you should also stop complaining."

Qrow exhaled slowly. "Sometimes I forgot why I quit teaching—then something like _this_ reminds me."

"You're welcome."

The older man closed his eyes and crossed his arms. After a few minutes of this happening, Mercury reasoned that he was asleep.

He carefully pulled out his screwdriver from his pocket (Ironwood hadn't been able to spot it and, therefore, wasn't able to confiscate it). He looked closely at the tracker bracelet again. He located where the actual tracker was—it wasn't hard, it was the only panel on the whole thing.

He was _so_ lucky that he recently got a new screwdriver. His other one has only one head on it, this one came with eight different heads. But with this new screwdriver, he was able to switch to a head to fit the screw-type.

Mercury carefully started to unscrew the panel. He managed to get two screws off before Qrow jittering awake caused him to quickly slide his screwdriver and screws into his pocket. He lowered his leg and tried to hide the loose panel.

Qrow yawned and rubbed at his eyes. He glanced up at Mercury.

"The bus come yet?" he wondered.

Mercury thought, "Yeah. You just missed it."

Qrow narrowed his eyes at the teen. "I don't appreciate jokes about important things."

"Who says I'm joking?"

Qrow turned to the left, there were small lights in the distance. "That."

"Then why'd you ask me?" Mercury asked. "If you could see the Air Bus?"

"I saw it while you took your time answering."

Mercury turned away from Qrow's gaze and looked at the approaching Air Bus. It got closer to the terminal and Qrow moved from his position of leaning against the post. He didn't turn to look at Mercury as he spoke:

"You might want to get up, we're boarding soon."

Mercury sighed and stood up. The panel on his tracker creaking slightly. He froze and looked down, it didn't seem like the panel was moving. He took a couple of careful steps towards Qrow before deeming the half-off panel nothing to be concerned about.

"Geez kid," Qrow said, glancing behind at Mercury, "you need to oil your legs or something?"

Mercury glared at him. "No."

It would be too much work to explain to the man as to _why_ he doesn't need to oil his prosthetics.

 _Out of everyone, I had to be stuck with_ him?

 _At least I know how he fights._

 _That could be useful._

 _Plus, he's a drunk._

 _I could use that against him._

The Air Bus docked and Qrow shoved Mercury in front of him. He walked behind the teen, showing his Huntsman badge to the pilot. They boarded the Air Bus. It took off and Qrow led Mercury to a seat near the back. They sat across from each other.

"Are you sure I can't sit alone?" Mercury wondered.

"I'm supposed to keep watch of you," Qrow explained, "there's no chance that I'm allowing you to be alone."

"What exactly would I do?" he demanded. "It's not like I _have_ a scroll."

"What? You don't want to sit with me?" Qrow joked. He leaned forward to look Mercury straight in the eyes. "You did some wrong things," he explained, no humour in his voice, "and now you're facing the consequences of your actions."

"I know."

" _Do_ you?" he asked. "Do you really?"

Mercury turned to look out the window, keeping his answer to himself.

At the absent of Mercury's answer, Qrow sighed and pulled out his flask. He took a few more drinks from it. Mercury watched him from the corner of his eyes.

If all went as planned, then Qrow should fall asleep along before they reach Patch.

* * *

With only thirty minutes until they reach the small island, the Huntsman fell asleep.

Mercury, then, went to work.

He placed his left leg on his right and took out his screwdriver. He finished unscrewing the panel and saw the small tracking device amidst a bundle of wires. He carefully moved some wires out of the way and looked closely at the tracking device. It was a square chip that was blinking with a bright green light.

He reached in with his fingers and pulled at the device.

The light flashed red and let out small electrical shocks that ran through Mercury's metal prosthetics and to this skin. He yelped, his aura disappearing, and jumped in his seat. His screwdriver and leg hitting the floor with a small clang and a much louder thud.

A small alarm came from Qrow's scroll.

The Huntsman snorted himself awake and reached for the alarm. He looked at it, turned off the alarm (the pulsing shocks ceasing), and then at the pained teenager across from him. Qrow sighed.

"I told you to not mess with your tracker."

Mercury only huffed in response. His whole body ached.

"What, was that?" he asked in between harsh breaths.

"A security measure," Qrow explained. He spotted the screwdriver on the floor and reached down to pick it up. He straightened and pocketed it. "I'll keep that with me for now."

Qrow reached over and picked up the panel from the seat beside Mercury. "If you tamper with the tracker, small electrical shocks, which should drain your aura, will come from it—alerting me. The shocks would not cease unless I turn off the alert."

"Why didn't anyone tell me this?" Mercury demanded.

"I wanted to see how long it would take you until you triggered the security measure." Qrow shrugged. "Now," he started, "I need to see your tracker—and the screws, if you would."

 _I would rather kill you._

Mercury shakenly reached into his pocket and passed the screws into Qrow's open palm. He was definitely drained of aura, he could barely move around. Qrow had to help him move his left foot onto the seat so that Qrow could screw back on the panel.

After that, Mercury placed his foot back onto the ground. His aura was slowly returning. Qrow leaned back in his seat, observing him.

"Now," he spoke up, "the next time you tamper with that, you'll be heading back to Ironwood. I don't think he'll be so lenient with parole next time."

"He wasn't lenient this time either."

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "He wasn't?"

"At least, he wouldn't have if you didn't ask him for a favour," Mercury corrected.

"Ah," Qrow nodded, "you think that this was _my_ doing?"

"Was it not?" Mercury asked. "Because I can clearly a remember a conversation where you said that I was 'worth saving' and whatnot."

"That's true," Qrow admitted, "I did say something along those lines. But that was just my personal judgement—don't get me wrong, I think you can be worth saving. But I would _never_ give you parole—especially after what you did to my niece. This was Oz's doing."

"Professor Ozpin?" Mercury raised an eyebrow. "You're still taking orders from a man who's probably six feet under?"

"Probably," Qrow pointed out. "Anyway, he asked me to send Ironwood a message. It would be containing information about your family life, the proposal, and how you will, most likely, end up in his… care. I didn't let him know that Oz told me to send the message. It's quite a bunch of luck that he accepted the proposition."

"So I have Ozpin to thank for my predicament?" Mercury clarified.

"Yeah."

"Hmm. So I suppose that I'll just have to thank Cinder instead," he mused. "She _did_ kill him."

Qrow growled and stared Mercury dead in the eye. "I'd be careful about what you say. Some people don't take backtalkers lightly."

"I know."

He raised an eyebrow and leaned back. "You don't act like it."

"I know that as well."

Mercury smirked at the irritation on Qrow's face.

* * *

Qrow led Mercury through the forest towards the house. The teen had been oddly quiet, and Qrow had to glance occasionally to check that he was still following him. As they neared the house, Qrow spoke up.

"You know," he started, "for someone who's as loud-mouth as you, you can be pretty quiet."

"It's a skill." Mercury shrugged.

"Hm." Qrow could see the house in the distance. "Alright. So you're going to be staying with Tai for a while."

"What?"

"I'll explain when we're with him," Qrow assured. "But listen to him and don't put up a fuss. He's a single dad who has to take care of both his daughters."

Mercury raised an eyebrow. "Who said I would put a fuss?"

Qrow glanced at him, unamused. "Just, let me do the speaking."

"What for?"

Qrow didn't answer him. He knocked on the door. After a few seconds, it swung open revealing a man with fading blond hair and tanned skin. His blue eyes bore up at Qrow. After a few seconds Qrow spoke.

"May we come in?"

The man moved out the way and closed the door behind Mercury.

"Qrow," he said, "what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean?" The red eyed man turned to face the blond. "I'm here to check on my nieces."

"No," he said. "You would have arrived when they did if you were here to check on my daughters. You're up to something. Is this for Ozpin?"

"Not everything I do is for Ozpin," Qrow muttered. "Besides, I had other pressing matters—"

"Other matters!" the man demanded. "Other than the fact that Ruby's in a coma and Yang lost her arm?"

 _Ooh. That was savage._

 _I like him._

"Tai," Qrow started, "you know I would have been here if this wasn't important."

"What exactly were you doing?" he demanded, crossing his arms. "And who's this?" He turned to Mercury.

"Hi." Mercury slightly waved.

Qrow sighed and brushed a hand through his hair. "Mercury, Taiyang. He's Ruby and Yang's father," he introduced, "Tai, Mercury. I'm currently watching over him."

"Hello," Taiyang politely said to Mercury. He turned back to Qrow. "Why is he here?"

"Like I said," Qrow explained, "I'm watching over him for James."

Taiyang sighed, "How long are you and he staying?"

"As soon as Ruby wakes up," Qrow promised, "then I'm off. Mercury… he's staying for a while."

"What!"

"What?"

"You brought a stranger into my house and are expecting me to watch over him for you?" Taiyang demanded as Mercury spoke at the same time.

"You're ditching me on a stranger?" Mercury asked. "It strictly says that I'm supposed to be under _your_ watch. I don't think Ironwood would like to hear about this…"

Qrow rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Tai," he started, "he's only staying for a small period of time. He's more than capable of taking care of himself, you just have to make sure that he doesn't leave the premises—or gain access to any scroll.

"And you," he turned to Mercury, "I'm not ditching you on a stranger. You two just met. Therefore, not strangers. Besides, you tell Ironwood about this and I'll tell him about how you tried to take off your tracker—I don't think you'll want to go back to prison after dealing your way out."

Mercury glared at the ground.

 _He's right. I hate how he's right._

 _Truth be told, I would have done the same thing._

 _Stop agreeing with the enemy!_

"Prison?" Taiyang demanded. "You brought a _criminal_ to my house?"

"I'm right here you know," Mercury mentioned.

"He's not really a criminal," Qrow lied.

"Not _really_ a criminal?" Mercury wondered, amusement thick in his voice. "Did you forget the fact that I'm an assassin?"

Taiyang turned to Qrow, flabbergasted. "You brought an _assassin_ to my house?"

Qrow turned to Mercury while Taiyang ranted. "I told you to let me do the talking."

Mercury shrugged.

"—Have you become dumber since the last time you came?" Taiyang wondered. "Or do you just not care for safety? Are you—"

Qrow interrupted him, "Tai, listen."

"What do you _have_ to say?" Taiyang insisted.

"He isn't really an assassin now," Qrow explained. "Here. I'll send you a link to an alert that will stop him from doing anything you deem 'bad'."

He pulled out his scroll and sent Taiyang a link to the alert that is connected to Mercury's tracker bracelet.

Taiyang looked at it. "You're expecting me to _shock_ him like a dog? I didn't even do that to Zwei!" He slammed his scroll down on the table.

At the sound of his name, a small black and white corgi waddled into the room.

"Bark!" Zwei panted.

"I didn't—ugh, never mind." Taiyang rubbed his face.

"Besides," Qrow remembered, "if you unscrew the joints on his legs, he won't be able to go anywhere."

"Hey!" Mercury complained.

"What?" Taiyang blinked. "You know what? I don't want to know.

"Going back to earlier: you want me to house an _assassin?"_

"If it makes you feel better, I didn't get caught as an assassin," Mercury added.

"Why would that make me feel better?"

"See?" Qrow pointed out. "He's good at what he does—and I don't know anyone else who would help his soul go back on the right track than you."

Taiyang ignored him. He continued to speak to Mercury, "What did you get arrest for anyway?"

"Infiltrating Beacon academy," he shrugged, "aiding in murder, helping to initiate the attack at Bea—"

Qrow rushed over and covered the silver haired teen's mouth before he could say anything else.

Taiyang narrowed his eyes at Qrow.

Qrow smiled sheepishly at the blond. "Ignore him," he said, "he's trying to be difficult."

He let go of Mercury and glanced around the house. "Anyway, I should probably check on the girls."

"What are you going to do with _him?"_ Taiyang asked, gesturing to Mercury.

"I can just leave," Mercury suggested.

Qrow turned to him. "No. You know the rules. You're not going out alone."

"I won't do anything," he explained. "Besides, can't you track my position from your scroll or something?"

"You're still not going out," Qrow simply said. "End of conversation."

 _Screw you, I have my own agenda._

Taiyang flumped down onto one of the chairs, he rubbed at his forehead. Because of the lighting, he looked much older. "You can go visit Yang, I'll keep an eye on him while you do." He sighed.

"What? Really?"

"Yeah," Taiyang cracked open an eyelid, "I know how much they mean to you."

"Thanks, Tai," Qrow sincerely said. "I knew I could count on you."

With that, the cap-clad Huntsman left for the stairs.

Mercury awkwardly stood by the door. Taiyang didn't say anything for a moment.

"You can sit you know," the blond mentioned.

"I know." Mercury still stood by the door.

"You're not leaving this house," Taiyang sighed. "I don't know what your and Qrow's deal is, but I'll respect his choice."

"Exactly," Mercury mentioned. "You don't know my deal. Maybe Qrow hates being outside."

Taiyang leaned back in his chair and looked at Mercury. "I've known Qrow since Beacon. If anything, he prefers being outside—well, he prefers going to bars."

"Yeah, you can smell a whole bar off of him."

Taiyang pulled out a chair. "Sit. I want to have a chat."

"I'm fine, thanks."

"If you're going to stay here, I want to talk." He gestured to the chair. "Sit."

Mercury grabbed the chair and pulled it towards him before sitting down. He rested one leg over the other.

"What did you want to talk about?" he wondered.

Taiyang looked closely at him. "What you mentioned before: an attack on Bea. Where you referring to the attack on Beacon?"

"Yeah," Mercury smirked, "my boss got in touch with Torchwick and coordinated the attack. He was with the White Fang. Got to thank them. We wouldn't have been successful without the distraction."

Taiyang took a deep breath in. "I watched the Vytal Festival," he started. "You fought against Yang, did you not?"

"Yeah, and I got her arrested as well." Mercury kept eye contact with Taiyang. "Want to kick me out yet?"

Taiyang didn't say anything.

"I also kept Ruby from saving her friend Penny before Nikos killed her," he mentioned.

Taiyang kept silent.

"I thought you wanted to talk," Mercury noted, "you've been quiet. It seems like I'm doing more talking than you—and you're the one who wanted to talk."

When Taiyang spoke, it wasn't what he expected, "So Yang didn't injure your leg."

Mercury furrowed his brow. "No duh. It didn't even hurt. I'm a great actor, if I have to say so myself. Great enough to fool all of Remnant."

"Why did you do it?" he asked.

"Because it was part of the plan—"

"Not the act," Taiyang interrupted, "but everything else. Being an assassin, infiltrating Beacon, helping the White Fang—"

"Didn't help the White Fang," Mercury corrected, "only _used_ them."

Taiyang waited for his answer.

"I did everything because I wanted to," he summed up. "Being an assassin, infiltrating Beacon, the attack—that was all my choice. I wanted to see humanity fall."

Taiyang looked closely at Mercury. Then he sighed and shook his head. "Qrow hopes that I can help you onto a better path, but I'm not so sure that you'll be able to walk down it."

"That's what I told him," Mercury agreed. "In fact the only reason I'm here is _because_ he doesn't understand that I don't _need_ help. I chose my path, and I'm going to skip down it."

Taiyang sighed once more. He then stood up and turned his back to Mercury. He thought for a moment. "Qrow mentioned you had rules, what are they?"

"Just things Ironwood told me I have to follow." Mercury shrugged. "If I break them I go to prison."

"That's not what I asked."

Mercury sighed, "I have to be under the watch of Qrow everyday, I apparently will train under him and anyone else he chooses, I have to wear this stupid tracker, I'm not allowed to break any laws, I can only fight Grimm and in self defense—or unless Qrow or Ironwood say I can, I cannot use a scroll, I cannot buy dust, I cannot injure anyone, and I can't kill or accidently kill anyone, or send or receive mail."

"That's all?" Taiyang asked.

"Yup," Mercury nodded, "I was shocked as well."

"So you chose to practically be isolated from the world, except for people you speak with, rather than be in prison?" Taiyang turned to him. "Are you planning something?"

 _He's smart._

 _I still like him._

 _I just don't like how smart he is._

"I'm not planning anything," Mercury assured. "You just can't watch humanity fall from behind bars."

"You _do_ realise that humanity falling means you'll fall with us?" Taiyang wondered.

"No." Mercury smirked. "I'm just a pawn captured by the enemies. I won't fall. I'm the one, out of us all, who will survive until the end. I chose my ending—have you?"

"You do realise that by calling us enemies, you just stated the whole of humanity is your enemy?" Qrow asked from the doorway. "Yang was asleep, I didn't want to disturb her," he explained to Taiyang.

"Yes, I do." Mercury shrugged. "I mean, why fight against Salem? She owns 95% of Remnant."

"We'll get that 95% back," Qrow assured. "And I don't think insulting the people who have control over your wellbeing is a smart decision."

"Who said anything about 'smart'?" Mercury wondered. "Ask Emerald, she'll tell you that I'm not smart."

"Tai," Qrow said, "can you leave us?"

"Fine." Taiyang stood up. "I have to check on Ruby."

He left the two alone.

Qrow resumed his conversation with Mercury, "Isn't Emerald the green hair one who attacked Amber?"

"Yeah, she kept us hidden from you." Mercury thought. "Or, she kept Cinder hidden from you. I don't think she actually cared about me. She doesn't like me."

"Yeah, if she paid more attention she would have hidden one of your most distinguishable features," Qrow agreed. "That's how I found out about you. I saw you fixing your prosthetics."

"You were watching me?" Mercury looked disgusted.

"I was observing you for Ozpin," he explained, "since he thought that you were naïve about your eyes. Now we know that you were just in denial."

Mercury didn't say anything.

"Why were you in denial anyway?" he wondered. "It doesn't seem like something you would be in."

"Why do you speak?" Mercury asked.

" _Excuse me?"_

"I'm not insulting you," he corrected. "I'm asking a serious question. You want to know my answer, answer my question. Why do you speak?"

"Because that's how we communicate." Qrow answered.

"You're thinking to broad," Mercury sighed. "I'm asking: why do _you_ speak?"

"…Because I was taught?"

"There you go."

"What?"

"That's my answer," Mercury explained. "Now, is there a place I can sleep in?"

"Not until you explain to me what you meant," Qrow growled. "I don't like trickery or games."

"Than you obviously didn't like Ozpin," Mercury retorted.

"Unlike you," Qrow explained, "Oz doesn't play tricks. There's always a meaning in what he says."

"There is one in mine." Mercury smirked. "Can I go now. It's late and I'm tired. I promise I won't sneak out during the middle of the night."

Qrow glared at him but turned towards the stairs.

"Follow me," he said, "'I'll show you to the guest room. But you're answering my questions in the morning."

* * *

 _Did they expect me to_ not _try and escape?_

 _That's stupid. But true._

 _Cause I'm only after a scroll._

Mercury looked around the dark guest room. It was almost one in the morning. Everyone should be asleep. He carefully got out of the bed and crept his way over to the door, his prosthetics didn't creak or made a sound on the floorboards.

He opened the door and peeked out into the hallway. There was no one.

Mercury then snuck his way down the hallway, passed Taiyang's empty room. He must have been with his daughter—Mercury wasn't sure which one though.

Mercury managed to make it down the stairs silently. He then kept to the shadows and spotted Taiyang's scroll. He checked the room, no one seemed to be there. He walked over to the table and grabbed the scroll. He opened it and found that it was locked.

Mercury cursed and tried to find some tape, powder, and a soft-tipped brush.

He placed the scroll down and rummaged through the draws for tape. He managed to find some and turned around to grab the scroll.

It wasn't there.

"Looking for this?" a gruff voice asked.

 _Oum damn it._

Mercury leaned back his head and sighed. He turned around and saw Qrow in the shadows. He was holding Taiyang's scroll. Qrow turned on the lights.

"How'd you know?" Mercury demanded.

"I expected you would try and contact someone," Qrow explained. "It was only a matter of time, especially when Tai left his scroll on the table."

"So what? Are you going to call Ironwood on me? You already let me get away with something else. I'm sure he won't be too impressed."

"You can't impress that man," Qrow mentioned. "But no. This is your final warning: try and break another rule, and I _will_ tell Ironwood."

Mercury didn't show if that threat meant anything to him.

Qrow pocketed the scroll. "I'll go return this to Tai, you go back to sleep."

"And if I don't?"

"You will," Qrow assured, "just whether you wake up with a bump on your forehead or not will be the difference."

Mercury glared at the man.

He then huffed and turned around. He walked back to the guest room for the rest of the night.

* * *

Ruby woke up that morning.

So that meant that Qrow would also be leaving.

 _That's good._

 _Can't have him catching me if he's not there._

Mercury woke up that morning with a small bundle of clothing on the chair, a note was there was well.

WEAR THESE.

—QROW

 _Aww… and when I thought he hated me._

Mercury changed into the clothing. They were a black shirt and grey pants. He wondered, for a second, how Qrow got these clothing. Then realised that he didn't care. He quickly checked his reflection while in the washroom, his hair didn't seem any different than the day before.

Mercury left the guest room and wandered down the halls. He heard Ruby talking to Yang in one of the rooms he passed. He ignored them and walked downstairs. Taiyang was already up. He was in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. Qrow was at the table.

"Morning, Merc," Qrow greeted.

"Don't call me that." Mercury muttered.

 _Only Emerald can call me that—_

 _Wait. Is that an emotional connection to someone?_

 _Oh no._

 _I better fix that before I go soft._

"So you didn't escape in the night," Taiyang mentioned, "or kill us all. I'm impressed."

"Doesn't mean I haven't thought of it or created a plan," Mercury reminded.

"Yeah," Qrow took a sip of a cup of coffee that he had, "I know."

Mercury glared at him.

Taiyang glanced at the two of them. "…Did something happen?"

"No."

"Yes," Qrow overcame Mercury's voice, "he tried to use your scroll to contact someone."

"You don't know that!" Mercury protested.

"You picked up the scroll, found it locked, and then went looking for some tape," Qrow explained. "What else could you have been doing?"

Mercury was at a lost of words.

"Did you tell Ironwood?" Taiyang asked. "He did break a rule."

"I let him off since I was waiting for him to do it anyway," Qrow explained. "But the next time he slips up, he's going back to Ironwood."

"Hmm." Taiyang thought. "Mercury, since I so selfishly am letting you stay at my house, can you set the table. We only need four plates, I'll take Yang her's."

"Yeah, I heard she lost her arm," Mercury mentioned as he grabbed the plates. "How long has it been?"

"About three days since the attack," Qrow explained. "Wouldn't you know that?"

"I was unconscious for a whole day, and no one even told me how long I was out." He shrugged. "So I figured it's been about a day or so."

"Huh."

"72 hours, right?" Mercury set the plates and utensils down. "And she's _still_ in bedrest. Wow."

"Wow what?" Taiyang asked, he turned to look at Mercury. He was apprehensive of where the teen was going with this.

"Pathetic."

"Pathetic?" a high voice squeaked from the stairs. Mercury turned and saw Ruby standing there. She was still in her pajamas. "You think losing your arm and staying in bed is _pathetic?"_

"For 72 hours, yeah. I just said that."

She marched over to him. "What are you even doing in our house?" Her eyes seemed to be wet with tears not yet fallen.

"Ask your uncle."

Ruby turned to Qrow. "Uncle Qrow…?"

Everyone went silent as he sighed. "Figures," he muttered, "blame the drunk." He looked up at Ruby. "I am under orders from General Ironwood to watch over Mercury—"

"Orders you pretty much asked for," Mercury reminded.

"Hush," Qrow hissed at him. "As I was saying: I have to watch over him, and he is going to stay with you guys while I am out working."

Ruby shifted from one foot to the other. "Don't you know what he _did?"_ she demanded. "How are you alright with this, dad?"

Taiyang moved the pan of bacon from the heat before it burned, "Yes, I do know what he did," he said. "But Qrow needs to work, or so he told me. One of Mercury's rules is that he needs to be watched, so he couldn't go alone. And besides," he smiled at her, "maybe we could try and set him on the right path."

 _Good luck with that cause it's not going to_ _happen._

"He just insulted Yang and got her arrested!" she pointed out. "He helped kill Pyrrha and Penny! He…" her voice cracked, "he worked for Cinder and Torchwick."

"I didn't actually work _for_ Torchwick," Mercury corrected, "he helped out Cinder, I work under her."

"Well he's dead."

"Cool. Never liked him."

"Why is he _here?"_ she asked, restating her earlier question.

"I stopped him in the Battle of Beacon," Qrow explained, "and got him arrested by Ironwood, and now he is here on his version of parole."

"Including shocking tracker bracelets," Mercury muttered under his breath.

Ruby opened her mouth again, but Taiyang cleared his throat and stopped her. He had filled the plates with breakfast while they talked. "Let's eat, then we can talk!" he suggested.

"I guess we can try…" Ruby tried to smile. It wasn't her most optimistic smile, if truth was told.

Taiyang sat down, Ruby did as well. Mercury was last to sit. Qrow pulled him into the chair beside himself. "Sit. Eat. You're not going anywhere," he warned.

Taiyang and Qrow started to eat first before Mercury and Ruby joined. She kept glancing at him throughout the meal. He looked none the wiser. It was starting to bug him though.

 _If you want to keep your eyeballs, then stop staring at me._

She didn't seem to receive the mental threat.

Mercury sighed, "Is there something on my face?"

"What?" she asked.

"Well you seem to be staring at me, so I figured there was something on my face." He shrugged.

"I… I just want to know something," Ruby started. "Were you actually my friend, or was that a lie?"

Mercury placed down his fork. "What do you want me to say?" he wondered. "That I was actually your friend and I was in a desperate attempt at calling out for help? Cause no. I was not. Being your 'friend' was a cover I had to maintain because I was ordered to. There's your answer. You have even more reason to want me out of this house. Happy?"

"Not really..."

"Good, I enjoy people being in pain."

Ruby looked at him with a pitiful look.

He ignored her.

* * *

It turns out that Ruby also left that day.

It mattered little to Mercury. It was better that she was gone. She would have only gotten in the way of his plan. It was for the best.

Taiyang seemed to be down. He was upset and worried that she had to leave. But after a few hours, he cheered up. He must have remembered that he still had a daughter to take care off.

Mercury had been forced to shadow Taiyang around. When he went to town, Mercury had to come. When he went outside, Mercury had to come. He wasn't even allowed to be alone in the house. There was only two times where he was alone. While asleep and in the washroom.

Yang finally got up and started moving three days after Mercury had arrived. It was in the mid-afternoon, right before he and Taiyang were about to go to the town. She came down stairs and froze when she saw him standing by the door, waiting for her dad.

Mercury noticed her.

"Ah, hey there blondie," he greeted.

"What are you doing here?" she barked.

"Wow, you sound like your sister," he noticed. "And I'm here because your uncle dumped me here with your father."

She blinked at him. She stepped down the stairs. Yang froze again when she noticed the anklet. "What's that?" She gestured to his tracker bracelet.

He looked down at it. "That's my newest form of self-torture," he explained, "it blows myself up if I'm not too careful."

"Your leg—how?" she demanded. "I broke your leg!"

He sucked in a breath. "You may have dented it, but you would have never broken it with a punch."

"Dented…?"

"Ah, Yang!" Taiyang called from the doorway. "You're up! How're you feeling?"

"I'm fine." She turned to him. "What is he doing here?"

"Your uncle dropped him off," he explained, "I'm watching over him."

"You weren't lying?" she asked Mercury.

"I don't always lie," he muttered.

She narrowed her eyes. "You got me arrested."

"Yup." He nodded. "Good times."

Taiyang sighed, "Mercury… what did I tell you about what is acceptable?"

Mercury shrugged. "Don't know."

Taiyang sighed again. "Other people's misfortune is _not_ something good."

"Are you sure?" he wondered. "I find it quite funny."

"This is why he is here," Taiyang explained, "we need to correct his corrupt soul."

"My soul may be corrupt," Mercury muttered, "but at least I _know_ what I am doing with my life."

"Which is?" Yang demanded. "Barging into my house, acting like you didn't do anything! Acting like you didn't betray us! Acting like—" her voice cracked, "like everything is okay? Like everything is perfect?"

Mercury thought. "Yup. As far as I know, the plan's been completed. Ozpin's dead. Cinder's the Fall Maiden. Beacon fell. I think everything is peachy. Too bad I got knocked unconscious before I could finish recording it—hopefully Emerald did."

"Emerald's with you?" Yang demanded.

"Pretty much. She's _way_ more loyal to Cinder than I am," Mercury explained. "So she's with Cinder, not me."

He moved his left leg in front of the right, balancing on the tips of his toes.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Yang exclaimed. "Didn't you say that's a bomb?"

"Pretty much." Mercury shrugged.

Taiyang furrowed his brow. "…Bomb? That's not a bomb. It's a tracking device, one Mercury needs to wear in order to be out on his parole. If it becomes damaged he has to go back to prison."

"Yeah," Mercury snapped, "I know."

"Tracking… device…?" Yang asked. "I think I'm out of the loop."

Mercury sighed, "I got arrested. The only reason I'm here now is because Qrow managed to cut a deal with Ironwood that said I get to _not_ go to prison if I stick with Qrow and get taught by him for some stupid reason. I have to wear this device so that they know where I am at all times. It's stupid."

"Where's Qrow then?"

"He left," Taiyang explained, "so I have to watch over Mercury until he gets back."

"Hmph." Yang glared at Mercury. "I still don't like you. I still don't like _this."_

"Believe me," Mercury assured, "neither do I."

Taiyang looked at the time. "Well, we have to go to town," he said to Yang. "Well be back soon."

"Alright," Yang said.

Taiyang walked over her and kissed her on the forehead. "You'll be alright?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Don't worry about me."

"I'm your father," he said, "it's my job."

"Alright. Alright, let go! Don't you have things to do?" She lightly pushed him off her.

"Yeah." He turned to Mercury. "Come on, then!"

Mercury sighed but followed the bumbling blond out of the building.

 _I could kill him now._

 _No one is around. No one will know._

 _But how will I explain this to Yang._

 _I don't care._

 _But she'll tell Qrow, and then I'll get shocked again. And most likely end up dead or in prison._

 _Oum, that shock collar obedience training_ actually _works._

* * *

Mercury watched the whole conversation between Yang and her father.

He frowned when she didn't take the arm out of the box. Why would she want to handicap herself?

She noticed him after.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

He thought. "Wondering why you would incapacitate yourself like that." Mercury walked into the room.

He spotted a small blue scroll beside Yang.

"Like what?" she gritted her teeth.

He raised his hands. "Hey, don't get angry at me. I didn't hurt you. Got you arrested, yes, but I never really hurt you." She glared at him. Mercury moved over to the couch. She stood up and faced him.

He continued, "Anyway, you wanted to be a Huntress your whole life. Are you going to let a little thing like a missing limb stop you? Ironwood made you a prosthetic arm. Be glad. I would kill for some Atlesian tech. Oh, wait. I did." He quickly reached down and swiped the scroll off the couch, pocketing it.

"Why are you here?" she wondered.

"I told you. Qrow—"

"No. I mean _here._ Talking to me," she explained. "You have no reason to. So leave."

"Fine," he said, "but I was just trying to tell you to not let such a little hiccup stop you. That's all."

Mercury turned and left Yang alone.

He headed towards the washroom, a place where he would be alone.

* * *

Mercury sat on the side of the tub as he fumbled with the scroll in his hands.

Luckily, unlike her father, Yang didn't have a lock on her scroll. He easily opened it.

Mercury then found where she hid the call button. He dialed Emerald's number and waited for her to pick up.

Hopefully he was able to call her though the CCT towers were down.

" _Hello?"_ a chilling voice asked.

"Salem…" Mercury paled.

 _"Yes,"_ Salem greeted. _"Who is this?"_

"Mercury, I was one of Cinder's… people," he introduced.

The line went quiet for a second.

 _"Ah, the one we thought dead"_ Salem realised.

"I was arrested," he corrected. "But I managed to get away."

 _"What do you mean 'get away'?"_

"Qrow wanted me to turn a new leaf and join them," he explained. "He cut a deal with Ironwood saying that he'll watch me and train me and whatnot. I have to stick with him—then he dumped me at one of his old teammate's house."

 _"Qrow?"_ she demanded. _"Qrow Branwen?"_

"Uh, yes?"

 _"Where did Qrow go?"_

"I don't know. I think he went after you."

 _"You are with one of Qrow's old teammates,"_ Salem clarified.

"Yes."

 _"Good. You are to stay there and gather information about what the enemy plans. Once the time is right, go after Qrow,"_ Salem instructed. _"I want you to stop Qrow from finding the Spring Maiden."_

Mercury paled and gulped. "Of course."

 _"Good,"_ Salem said. _"Do not get caught. If you have to, train with Qrow. We must get Haven to fall."_

"Very well."

 _"Oh, and Mercury?"_

"Yes?"

 _"Don't let me down."_

With that, Salem disconnected the call.

Mercury slid down the tub and leaned against it. Frozen. Not only did he interrupt a meeting with Salem, he was given instructions to find Qrow and train under him. He was to find out what the enemy plans, and then backstab them.

Well.

He surely _didn't_ have his work cut out for him.

* * *

Mercury slipped the scroll into his pocket. He left the washroom and headed towards the living room. Luckily Yang wasn't there. He managed to place the scroll back where it was before. He then slipped out through the other entrance.

Hopefully she wouldn't notice that he had used it.

* * *

Mercury was sitting in 'his room' (as he figures he should call the guest room since he was practically living there) when Oobleck and Port arrived. He could hear their chatter from upstairs, they were loud. They _did_ get quieter the longer they stayed—Taiyang must have told them that people were sleeping upstairs.

He had the job of gathering intel from the enemy, while acting as if they could be changing him. They're not. It takes a lot more than nice words and electric shocks to change the way he thinks.

He was just glad that no one made a mention of his eyes.

He knew that Yang thought his eyes were grey—as he told her—and Taiyang hasn't yet said if he knew anything about the silver eyed warriors. That was fine. Besides, Qrow was gone. So he couldn't learn even if he wanted to.

Which he doesn't.

Mercury didn't want to interact with the two professors from Beacon—especially since he helped its downfall—but he was curious when Yang walked downstairs. She passed his room, not even glancing in at him (maybe she thought he was asleep?).

He maybe— _maybe—_ followed her towards the stairs. That was where he rested and listened in on the conversation.

"…you still got a long way to go before you're ready for the real world." That sounded like Taiyang.

"Oh my gosh!" Yang rolled her eyes. "Does every father figure just have the same three condescending phrases?"

"Yeah," Taiyang argued, "but we only use them when we mean it!"

"Is that _so?"_

"As a matter of fact it is so!" Taiyang looked her in the eyes. "If you honestly think that you're ready to go out there on your own… well, guess you lost some brain cells along with that arm."

Mercury silently hissed at that.

 _I knew there was a reason I liked him._

 _That had to sting!_

Yang looked at her father, pained. Oobleck and Port as looked at Taiyang—shocked.

"You jerk!" Yang then punched her father in the arm. She laughed after.

 _That—what's so funny?_

Taiyang joined her in her laughing.

Oobleck whispered to Yang, "Are we finally talking about the Goliath in the room?" he sincerely wondered.

Yang and Taiyang looked at each other before bursting out laughing.

Mercury raised his eyebrow in confusion.

 _I will never understand that kind of humour._

Port and Oobleck also joined in laughing.

Port spoke up, "Miss. Xiao-Lo—Yang, if you don't mind me asking, why haven't you tried on the arm yet?"

"Oh, yes, yes!" Oobleck agreed. "A piece of Atlas Technology being given out like that is rare indeed, not to mention the effort it took to deliver it here. It seems a great many people want to see you return to normal."

Mercury rolled his eyes as Yang went on a small tangent about how 'she's scared' and that having one arm 'is normal' and whatnot. Mercury nearly threw up with how cliché it sounded. Even more so when Taiyang comforted her.

It was interesting to note that Port was afraid of mice.

He heard Yang heading towards the stairs, so he quickly got up and headed towards the washroom.

"Good night!" Yang called to them.

Just as she was about to walked passed the washroom, Mercury bumped into her.

"Hey, watch it!" She glared.

"Sorry," he shrugged, "you shouldn't walk so silently then."

She growled but ignored him and went back to her room. Mercury turned and walked into his.

He has a feeling he'll be leaving this house _very_ soon.

* * *

The next day, Yang left her room with her prosthetic on. She seemed to have rethought her predicament.

Mercury was sitting at the kitchen table, Taiyang was making a cup of coffee. He was trying to get the younger man to have a conversation.

"Do you drink coffee?" he wondered.

"No," Mercury replied. "I don't believe in having something that will make you addicted—that's a weakness and makes you needy. It's unnecessary."

"Huh," Taiyang mused. "Well, I like mine black."

"Isn't that supposed to be really bitter?"

"Yeah." He nodded, grabbing his cup and turning around to look at Mercury. "But it's how I prefer my coffee."

"Hmm."

Yang walked down the stairs. "Morning, dad."

Taiyang looked up at his daughter. "Yang! Good morning! How are you feeling?"

She looked down at her arm. "Better."

"That's good," Mercury remarked from the table, "I was getting tired of seeing you moping around the house."

She turned to glare at him.

"What?" he asked. "It's an honest statement."

"So _now_ you're being honest?"

"What?" he demanded. "Do you _want_ me to lie?"

"No." she explained, "but you were lying the whole time we were at Beacon! Was anything you said true? Or was it all a lie?"

Mercury thought. He lied about where he came from (though it was a half-truth), he lied about his eyes colour, he lied about being their friends, he lied when fighting Pyrrha, he lied about his leg, and he lied about… everything.

"No."

"No, what?" she demanded.

"No. Nothing I said in Beacon was true," Mercury explained.

The room went silent. Taiyang placed his mug down on the counter with a soft thud. A look of disappointment on his face. Yang widened her eyes at him, she then furrowed her brow and glared at him.

"Nothing," she scoffed. "Are you lying now?"

"No." Mercury shrugged. "I only lie when the truth is inconvenient."

Yang marched over to him and grabbed at his collar. Mercury looked at her, unamused. Taiyang stepped forward.

"So getting people killed?" she demanded. "Lying just to get into a school? Getting close to us? You lied just because the truth was inconvenient! Inconvenient for what? Betraying us? Attacking Beacon? Destroying what we have built and protected for years?"

"It's my job," he mentioned. "I'm an assassin—killing people is what I'm _good_ at."

She sneered at him. "Unbelievable!" Yang tightened her grasp on his collar.

"Let go of me," he warned, "or it'll be more than just your arm that you'll be missing."

Yang dropped his collar. She growled and punched him in the face.

"Yang!" Taiyang exclaimed.

Mercury staggered back. He reached up and felt his bleeding lip. A smirk worked a way onto his face. He looked at Taiyang. "She attacked me first. Does this count as self-defence?"

"What?" He blinked. "NO! No attacking my daughter!"

"She started it," was all Mercury said before Yang reached out to punch him again.

He dodged and kicked Yang in the gut. She got pushed back. Mercury lowered his foot and gestured with his arms.

"You can quit at any time."

Yang only growled in response and lunged at him. He dodged her arm and swiped her feet from under her. Yang sprung back to her feet and charged at him. Mercury was ready to defend himself, but never got the chance because Taiyang stepped in front of the punch.

Yang froze inches away from his face.

"Dad?" she demanded. "What are you doing?"

"I'd like to know the same thing." Mercury crossed his arms.

Taiyang turned to Mercury. "I'll get to you later."

That caused the assassin to raise his eyebrows.

The blond turned back to his daughter, Yang had lowered her fists. "What was the outcome you were hoping for?" he wondered. "Fighting in the _house?_ You know I didn't even let you and Ruby spar inside when you were younger."

"Well, I don't think he'll be so kind as to go outside so I can beat him up!" She glared at Mercury.

"You don't know," he shrugged, "I may have."

Taiyang ignored Mercury. "No fighting in the house."

"He provoked me!" Yang explained.

"No fighting in the house, young lady, and that is final."

She crossed her arms, annoyed. "Fine."

"And you," Taiyang turned to Mercury, "don't threaten my daughter."

"She's the one who assaulted me." Mercury shrugged. "What as I supposed to do? Ask her nicely to let go? I would have, but we both know she wouldn't."

Taiyang sighed, "That doesn't mean that you can threaten her. And you fought—"

"Self-defence."

"I have half the heart to contact Qrow and Ironwood right now."

"Why don't you?" Mercury asked. "I don't see why you _shouldn't_ do it. All I've been is a nuisance since I got here."

Taiyang sighed, "I really don't want to have the conversation with Qrow about why you're in prison while under my watch."

Mercury raised an eyebrow. "I really don't think he'll be surprised."

"Doesn't matter," Taiyang explained. "If I can't keep people under my watch safe, then I failed my one job."

"If it makes you feel better," Mercury mentioned, "I'm technically supposed to be under Qrow's watch."

"It really doesn't." Taiyang looked at the both of them. "While you are under my roof, I expect no more fighting between you two. Yang, I know that you don't like him—but he is my responsibility until Qrow returns."

" _If_ he returns!" Yang glared at Mercury. "You know how he is. Who knows how long until Qrow returns from his mission."

"I don't want to be here, either." Mercury glared back at her. "So stop acting like this was deliberate."

"It could have been!"

"Listen, if I wanted to be here deliberately than this whole scenario wouldn't be happening."

"Oh, really?" She crossed her arms. "I highly doubt that."

"I managed to fool you before. I can do it again."

Yang clenched her fist at her sides.

"Alright!" Taiyang interrupted again. "I think we should cool off. You don't want to damage your prosthetic, do you?"

"Alright." Yang unclenched her fists. She sat down at the table.

Mercury sat down on the opposite side. Taiyang turned and brought over plates of breakfast.

"Let's just have a nice meal," he said.

"Fine." Yang picked up her fork.

"Whatever." Mercury shrugged.

They ate in silence for a moment before Yang spoke up, "If you lied about everything—did that mean that you lied about your eye colour?"

Mercury sighed and looked up at the ceiling, annoyed. "What do you think? My eyes look grey?"

"I think that Nora's correct."

"Well, she wouldn't be if I told the truth," Mercury answered. "Besides, why does it matter?"

"Just curious."

They went back to their silent meal.

 _Wait… don't I have a job to do._

 _Oum. How could I forget direct orders from Salem!?_

 _How exactly am I going to do this? It's not like I can pull a 180, that'll be suspicious._

 _Maybe…_

"So, Mr. Xiao-Long—"

"Haven't I said that you can call me Taiyang?"

"I don't think so."

"Oh."

"Anyway," Mercury continued, "Taiyang, what exactly do you _do_?"

"I'm a professor at Signal," he explained. "So was Qrow—before he quit to join Ozpin."

"Is he who taught Ruby?" Mercury asked. "They have a similar fighting style."

Taiyang nodded. "Yes, actually. I'm surprised you noticed that."

Mercury half-heartedly shrugged, "I'm a good observer."

"I taught Yang," Taiyang explained.

"You're a good teacher then," Mercury admitted, "I mean—she _did_ beat me fairly at the Vytal Festival, and that's no easy feat."

 _Ha. That's a lie._

 _I wanted for her to win. It was part of the plan._

 _I know about your semblance, Miss. Xiao-Long—I would be careful the next time we fight._

 _I won't go as easy on you next time._

"Yeah, before you got me arrested," Yang sneered.

"Technically that was Emerald," he mentioned. "She was the one who casted the illusion."

She didn't say anything besides from glaring at him once more.

He smirked back at her.

"Interesting," Taiyang noted.

"You mentioned that I couldn't break your leg," she mentioned, "what did you mean? You had no aura, your leg _broke."_

He kept smirking at her. "Is a man not allowed to have his secrets?" he wondered.

 _It doesn't matter if you know._

 _I just want to see what you will do._

"Not when they aren't trustworthy, and are living in the same house as me," she explained.

"Ouch," he hissed, "that stung."

"Mercury…" she warned.

"You just want to know so that you can find a way to actually break my legs next time, am I right?"

"No," she said, "I'm just curious."

He shrugged. "Fair enough."

He went back to eat his breakfast.

"Are you not going to tell me?" she demanded.

"Maybe later." He thought. "When I feel like it."

She growled at him.

He smirked.

This was all part of his plan.

Hopefully it will work.

* * *

About a few days later, Taiyang started to retrain Yang. He wanted to check to see if she was in fighting shape.

While they sparred, Mercury sat by the trunk of one of the large trees. Occasionally he would do a check on his prosthetic—they were mostly in perfect condition. Sometimes there would be a screw or so that he would have to fix. It wasn't anything major.

Mercury _had_ noticed, though, that Yang was using kicks similar to what he used.

 _Aww. Did I impact her so much that she wanted to mimic how I fight?_

 _That's cute._

 _I hate it._

One day, after sparring, Yang noticed him sitting alone by the tree. He had a small screwdriver (which he _totally_ didn't steal from the town the last time they visited) and was tightening some screws near where his calf would be.

Oddly enough, she walked over to him. Almost like she wanted to be in his presence. Strange.

Yang stopped a few metres from him, obviously spotting his prosthetic.

"You don't have to stare," he mentioned, finishing up with his screw, "I don't bite."

"It would be a lie to say that I believed you," she sat down where she was standing. She was about a metre or so away from him.

They sat in silence. "Did you come over here for a reason or…?" he wondered after a moment.

"I just thought you looked lonely," she explained.

"So you came over?" Mercury raised an eyebrow. "I thought you hated me."

"Oh, I do," she assured. "Don't think I don't. I'm just… I'm just trying to think what Ruby would do."

"Ruby?" Mercury wondered. "Why does it matter what she would do?"

Yang sighed, "You wouldn't understand."

He shrugged. "Fair enough."

"It's just," she started. Mercury groaned on the inside. "She always sees the best in people. Even when they do something terrible, she tries to look on the brighter side. I… just… I'm trying to see what she might."

"In me?" he scoffed. "I don't that's possible."

"You never know," Yang mentioned. "She tried with Torchwick."

"And how did that work out for her?"

"He's dead."

" _Right."_

"All I'm saying," Yang looked at him, "is that I'm _trying_ to be nice. You can at least do the same."

 _Remember the plan._

"I can try." He shrugged. "Though, I don't think I _know_ how to be _actually_ nice."

"We'll teach you," Yang explained.

"Ah huh."

Yang nodded and then the two sat in awkward silence once more.

Mercury sighed, "You can ask what questions you want. I don't care."

"How—what? What are _those?"_ she demanded.

"My legs," he answered, "thought you may have figured that out yourself."

"That's a prosthetic," she pointed out.

"So your arm's not an arm because it's robotic?" he wondered.

"That's not what I meant," she corrected. "You have a prosthetic leg!"

 _Might as well correct her incorrect fact._

"I have two." He pulled up his other pant leg and showed her the other leg.

"What?" She looked at the prosthetic. "Since when?"

Mercury rolled back down his pant leg. He shrugged. "About two—three years."

"What!?" She rubbed at her forehead, "So when I 'broke' your leg—"

"You just knocked some screws out of place." He shrugged. "It was more than effective, though. It did it's job."

"Which was?"

"To elevate the negativity in Vale so that the Grimm can attack easier." He scratched his nose.

She glared at him.

He raised an eyebrow.

Yang sighed. "Do you mind me asking—"

"How it happened?" he interrupted. "Yes. I do mind."

"…Sorry."

They sat in silence once more. Mercury lightly fidgeted with the screwdriver. It was the only sound besides the wind rustling through nature. Yang took a deep breath in and exhaled.

"I love the sound of nature," she mentioned. "It's so calming."

"Yeah… That's surprising," Mercury noted, "Yang Xiao-Long—the quarrelsome blonde—enjoying the relaxing sound of nature."

"Ha, ha," she dryly said. "Well, it's even more surprising that Mercury Black—the assassin who infiltrated Beacon and helped bring on the demise of Vale—agreed with me on enjoying nature."

"Laugh all you want," he looked up at the tree tops, "but nature was always a safe spot for me."

"Huh," she mused. "Never would have thought of that."

 _Wait. That was too much information._

 _Information tend to lead to bonds, bonds lead to emotional connections._

 _Then I won't be able to complete my mission._

"Yeah." He nodded. "But, hey, I could be lying."

Yang glared at him. "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"You will say something sincerely and then say something that makes me question what you just said," Yang explained.

"I know." He shrugged.

"Why do you do that?" Yang demanded.

"I don't do that."

"Yes, you do."

"Nope."

"Yes."

"Nope."

"Yes! You! Do!"

He smirked. "Prove it."

She screwed up her face in anger. "You are _insufferable!"_

"Now you're starting to sound like Weiss," Mercury pointed out.

Yang's face fell. "…I think I should head inside soon—you should too, I don't think dad wants to stay outside longer than needed."

"Oh, he went inside about ten minutes ago," Mercury mentioned.

" _What?_ And you're still outside?"

"I'm not going to follow him around like a dog—besides you were outside as well." He shrugged.

"Well, I'm now going inside." She stood up. "You should as well."

He hummed, "Maybe in a bit."

"Whatever." She turned around. "If you get in trouble with dad, that's not my fault."

"Didn't expect it to be."

Yang turned and walked back inside the house. Mercury stayed outside. Once he knew he was alone, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small scroll. It was an old scroll he found while rummaging through boxes he found in his closet.

The scroll had a cracked screen—that must be why it was packed away. Luckily it still worked. He managed to get onto the scroll (since it was old, they took away the passcode) and located Qrow's scroll number among the contacts.

That was totally lucky, or bad luck for Qrow. He didn't expect it to be there.

Now, Mercury wasn't some genius. But he _did_ know small convenient skills. One of the skills was something he learned from his father's 'friend' (more of a person his father knew and didn't kill). They were a hacker who used to work for a scroll store. He taught Mercury some tips about scrolls. One of the tips was how to locate the GPS signal of any scroll—so long as he knows the number.

Everyone scroll has a GPS, it was a security measure in case a scroll got stolen. But Mercury could hack Qrow's scroll and locate his GPS, merely just by knowing the number.

It doesn't sound plausible—but that was what made the hacker so great, no one believed their methods. It worked. And Mercury knows this because he used it to locate and track Emerald's scroll after finding the cracked scroll.

Mercury worked his magic and managed to locate Qrow. He was moving over the farmland of Anima. He seemed to be heading towards Mistral—did he know about the attack on Haven? No. Ruby mentioned, in her note, how she was heading to Mistral. He must have been following her.

Since Mercury found Qrow, he had one last thing to do.

It was dismantling the alert for Mercury's tracker.

This was harder. Mercury had to properly guess where Qrow would place the alert app, and if he got it wrong then he would open another app that may set off alarms on the man's scroll.

It was time to play 'where would a middle-aged drunk place an app that would electrocute an assassin' game!

Mercury swiped to the last screen on the scroll. He hesitantly pushed down where he thought that the app might be. Qrow was older, there was chance that he wouldn't move the app from where it would originally spawn on the scroll.

After a moment of no alarms alerting him that Qrow opened his scroll, Mercury let out a sigh of relief.

Though Mercury doesn't believe in Oum, he prayed to Oum that this wouldn't backfire on him.

Mercury closed up the scroll and slipped it into his pocket. He stood up and headed towards the house.

All he needed to do was locate Taiyang's scroll and shut off the alert as soon as he takes out the tracker.

* * *

That was easy.

Taiyang's scroll was on the coffee table. The man, himself, was in the kitchen preparing supper. He didn't seem to notice the fact that Mercury was in the living room.

Mercury quickly unscrewed the panel from his tracker and placed his left leg over his right. This would have to be a quick process. He would need to rip out his tracker, not scream in pain from the electricity, shut off the alert, and screw the panel on before anyone realised what he was doing.

Easy.

He silently psyched himself up before lightly moving the wires out of the way of the small tracker. He then ripped it out and grabbed the scroll. He felt the beginning of an electric shock and jabbed the off button on the alert within a few milliseconds.

Mercury hissed silently as the electric shock fizzed out before it really started.

He must have moved faster then than he has in battles.

As much as he hates his father, he has to thank him for forcing Mercury to have quick reflexes.

Mercury placed the scroll back where he found it and screwed back on the panel. He picked up the small tracker.

He could always crush it, but then someone would the notice the absence of it. He could always…

Mercury smirked, an idea forming in his head. He stood up and pocketed the tracker. Then he stepped into the kitchen, he slipped into a kitchen chair as Taiyang hummed a song by the pot he was stirring.

Unknown to Taiyang, Mercury had already planned his escape out of this house.

Now all Mercury had to do was wait.

(And plant the tracker.)

* * *

Planting the tracker was easy.

He waited until nightfall before initiating his plan. Mercury opened Yang's slightly ajar door and slid inside. He knew that she took off her prosthetic arm while she slept because one day he walked passed her room and glanced at her slipping it on. They then had this conversation:

"Are you watching me?" Yang demanded.

"No," Mercury said, "I was just walking by. You take off your arm while you sleep?"

"Yeah. Got a problem with that?"

"Nope."

Then he walked away.

Mercury located the arm and picked it up. He spotted a small panel on the inside of the arm that was easily unlockable. He quietly screwed it open and placed the tracker, hidden behind the wires. Then he screwed back on the panel and left the room.

Yang was none of the wiser.

* * *

Ruby looked up and saw her uncle standing in front of her, Harbinger stopping Tyrian's attack.

"Hey," he greeted.

Tyrian brought his tail back and Qrow turned around, readying Harbinger.

Tyrian smiled, "Huh! As I live and breathe! Qrow Branwen." Tyrian giggled. "A _true_ Huntsman has entered the fray!" He bowed towards the man. "It seems that Mercury wasn't lying—though I don't see him, where could he have gone?"

Qrow glanced at Ruby. She used Crescent Rose to lean against, her aura depleted. "I don't know. This guy's weird," she said to him.

He turned back to Tyrian. "Look, pal, I'm not sure who you are—or how you know Mercury—but you need to leave my niece alone."

"Why, friend, my name is Tyrian!" he introduced. "And I'm afraid that is not possible. My assignment from Her Grace was to retrieve this young girl—and unlike Mercury, that is what I must do. One does not upset the Queen." He looked up at the sky, putting a hand over his heart.

"Queen?" Ruby asked, confused.

Qrow narrowed his eyes. "Salem."

Ruby was still confused. "Who?"

"So that's how you know Mercury," Qrow realised. "You both work for Salem."

Tyrian tilted his head. "You insulted Her Grace by implying that she would hire someone like _him._ No, he works under Cinder. And apparently is failing his job. Such sadness when I tell the Queen."

"He works under Cinder," Qrow said, "so he works under Salem, since Cinder works _for_ Salem."

Tyrian thought. "Hmm. Well, I think we've had enough talk now, don't you?"

Tyrian crouched into a ready position.

"You took the words right out of—" Tyrian lunged at Qrow before he could finish his sentence.

The two started to fight viciously. They moved so fast that it was impossible for Ruby to get a clean shot at Tyrian. And if she tried to get too close, Qrow would yell at her to stand back.

 _But, why, Uncle Qrow?_

 _Why can't I help you?_

 _This is my fight too!_

Eventually Ruby got fed up with his warnings and got in deep with the fight. She got pushed back and nearly got crushed by falling planks—and would of if Qrow didn't save her.

But Tyrian then scratched him with his scorpion tail.

Ruby, in retaliation, cut off the tip of his tail.

He screamed at her before scampering away.

"She'll forgive you," he said to himself, an infinitesimal amount of hope in his words.

Tyrian then took off, leaving the five of them alone in the abandoned village.

Qrow fell to his knees, groaning, while clutching his wound.

Ruby rushed over to him. "Uncle Qrow! Are you okay?"

Qrow panted heavily before answering, "I'll be fine. He just grazed me." He showed her the small wound.

Jaune, Nora, and Ren ran over to them. "Who was that guy?" Nora wondered.

"How did you get here?" Ren asked.

"Why are people after Ruby?" Jaune demanded.

"Uncle Qrow," Ruby turned to the panting man, "what's going on?"

Qrow looked up at her. "What's your favourite fairy-tale?"

 _What?_

* * *

Mercury sat at the trunk of a tree. He watched Taiyang train Yang. They have been at this training for almost two weeks now.

She seemed to be working well with her prosthetic and, he begrudgingly had to admit, it was a better quality than his own.

Taiyang was also a _way_ better fighter than he looks.

Not a good as Mercury, but good.

Yang hadn't noticed the tracker that Mercury placed in her arm. That was good. It would be terrible if she found out about it.

If she found out about it…. Well, he would take _any_ measures to make sure his mission isn't compromised.

Murder _was_ something he knew very closely.

He zoned out after Taiyang mentioned something about Yang's balance being off. He didn't care for their training, all he cared for was when Yang was leaving. He needed to get her to leave before he could go through with the rest of his plan and finally leave this house.

It seemed like Taiyang talked about Yang needing to not use her semblance to win fights. Mercury had to agree, it _was_ a temper tantrum. But it allowed Mercury to actually properly fight her without winning. Well… if he won then Emerald would have had to improvise. He wouldn't have enjoyed the chastising he would have gotten from Cinder though.

He would have zoned out again if Taiyang didn't call his name.

"Hey, Mercury!" he called. "Wanna spar with Yang?"

Mercury raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

 _I mean: yes._

 _This is suspicious though._

Taiyang shrugged. "You haven't been doing much exercise lately, thought you may enjoy it."

 _Enjoyment? Yeah, right. I don't think you care for my enjoyment._

 _But sure._

"Alright." Mercury stood up. "But you gotta give me permission."

"Right," Taiyang nodded, "I almost forgot. Yeah, you two can spar."

Mercury smirked. He walked over to the large clear space. Taiyang moved and sat down on a bench outside. Zwei joined him.

"Yang," Taiyang called, "see if you can use what I taught you."

She turned to her father and nodded.

Mercury was confused. He _should_ have paid attention to what they talked about.

He readied his hands in front of his face, protecting. Yang almost mimicked him. They stood in silence before she lunged at him. Mercury ducked and kicked her with his boot. She dodged and tried to swipe his feet from under him.

 _Really?_

Mercury jumped and spun in the air, aiming to kick her head down to the ground. She blocked his leg and he used her as a platform to kick off of. She aimed to punch him with her robotic arm, but he dodged and landed a few metres away from her.

Mercury raced towards her and they sparred in a fury of kicks and punches. Yang managed to get some punches in, and Mercury managed to swipe her feet from under her. She landed on the ground, but backwards handsprung off of it. She reached out and tried to kick him.

Now he was on the receiving end of some kicks.

That was slightly new. But not surprising. He grabbed her right ankle and pulled her closer, using the palm of his hand to nail her in the nose. He dropped her ankle, and she stumbled for a moment. Yang then growled (her eyes hadn't yet turned red) and lunged at him again. He dodged and used his elbow to hit her ribs.

She stumbled and fell towards the ground, grabbing her ribs and coughing.

"I think we should end there," Taiyang intervened.

Mercury lowered his arms. That was fun. He _finally_ got to beat Yang in a fight—maybe she did just rely on her weapons and her semblance.

"How are you?" Yang's father wondered.

"I'm fine." She brushed him off and stood up. She caught a glance at Mercury. "I'll beat you next time."

"If there _is_ a next time." He shrugged.

 _Oh. There will be a next time._

Taiyang shook his head at the two. "Let's head inside. It's almost dinner time."

The three headed towards the door.

* * *

Mercury watched from a far as Yang walked towards Bumblebee. She wore a new outfit. It was definitely different from her old one. She looked around before getting onto the bike. She then took off racing.

Mercury smiled.

She took off racing with his tracking device.

* * *

"I miss them already," Taiyang mentioned later.

Mercury was outside with him, helping him rake the lawn. The assassin didn't enjoy the activity, unsurprisingly.

"If you didn't then something was wrong with you," Mercury said.

"Hmm." Taiyang looked around the lawn. "Well, I think we're finished. Wanna head inside and prepare supper?"

"Why not."

Taiyang walked back towards the shed and Mercury followed. While inside, the assassin placed down the rake and quietly picked up a shovel. Taiyang turned his back to Mercury while he placed down his rake. Mercury quickly, and strongly, hid the back of Taiyang's head with the shovel.

It wouldn't knock out the man, Mercury knew this. That is why he kicked the blond out of the shed before he could register what happened.

Taiyang scraped against the ground as he came a halt by the house. He blinked. Mercury just _attacked_ him. He slowly got up, his aura low. Mercury stood in front of him, ready to attack.

"What are you doing?" Taiyang demanded.

Mercury didn't answer. Rather he lunged towards him and reached out to kick Taiyang.

Taiyang dodged and step sided. He didn't want to fight Mercury. The kid was doing _so well_ before _._ And now had randomly turned to attacked him.

Mercury kept attacked him and so Taiyang then retaliated. He punched the kid in the shoulder and Mercury stepped back. The blond reached into his pocket and pulled out his scroll.

"I know I said I didn't want to use this but—"

Mercury cut his sentence off by shooting at his hand with a bullet. The bottom of his boots steamed. He then aimed another bullet at Taiyang's legs and torso. Taiyang managed to dodge the bullets before lunging at Mercury.

The assassin jumped up into the air and landed on Taiyang's back. The man fell to the ground from the weight. Mercury boosted off Taiyang with his bullets and the man's aura was shattered.

"Mercury why are you doing this?" Taiyang croaked. He tried to get up.

The response was a kick to the face.

Taiyang crumpled.

Mercury walked over to where the scroll fell. He crushed it under his boot. Mercury then walked over to Taiyang, he dragged the man into the house and dumped him on the couch. He then rummaged through his pockets and pulled out his wallet. He took some lien from it and replaced it back into the man's pocket.

He grabbed a random bag he found lying around and emptied it. He ransacked the kitchen, placing food in the bag. Then he grabbed a clean water bottle and filled it to the top before closing it and throwing it into his bag. He also grabbed a black sweater, slipping it on over his clothing. Mercury looked for any spare ammunition before taking that as well.

All he needed was dust rounds, and he could get that at the town.

Mercury pushed off the anklet and threw it in the trash. It started to blink a rapid red lit, he ignored it. No use for it anyway. It would only get in the way.

Before he left the house, Mercury spoke to the unconscious body of Taiyang.

"Orders are orders," he said, "no hard feelings."

With that, Mercury left the house and disappeared down the path.

His destination: Yang.

Or Yang's mother, to be precise.

 **I hope you enjoyed this!**

 **So this was 2,000 more words than the last story.**

 **Wow.**

 **Anyway, chapter three should be coming out soon! ([30/08/18] Sorry about the wait! It's taking longer than expected to write!)**

 **(Depending on how RWBY volume Six goes, there may be a chapter four or five. Until it is confirmed, this story will be marked as complete as soon as chapter three comes out.)**

 **This was sort of an in-between Merc's silver eyes plot. His silver eyes** _ **will**_ **be talked about more in the next part. Yang didn't know about them, and I don't Taiyang knew much besides the fact that are rare—and Merc's not going to tell them about it. So that's why there isn't a lot of mention to it.**

 **This was to create the relationship Mercury is going to have with Yang, that will be important for the future.**

 **As I mentioned on my bio, I don't really write** _ **actual**_ **relationships. If you want to think deeply about it, be my guest, but I'm writing it more platonic than romantic.**

 **But who know? Maybe things will spice up in the romance!**

 **(Don't count on it though!)**

 **Anyways,**

 **Fiddlerinthewoods OUT!**


	3. Of Safe Havens and Close-Calls

**Hello!**

 **Part three is here and ready to go!**

 **Let's get straight to this!**

 **Chapter Summery:**

 ** _The Fall of Haven is nearing. Mercury will have to keep his betrayal a secret. Will he be able to do that or will secrets be revealed? What happens when an itching sensation starts behind his eyes...?_ **

**I don't own RWBY.**

 **Enjoy!**

General Ironwood sat in his office. He was thinking over the conversation—argument—that he had with Jacques Schnee. Ironwood still knew that he was in the right. And nothing would change his opinion.

He would have kept mulling if the door didn't open and one of his soldiers didn't stand in the doorway.

"General Ironwood," they started, saluting.

Ironwood looked up at them. "At ease."

The soldier continued to speak, "Sir, we have important news regarding one Mercury Black."

"Which is?"

"His tracking bracelet alerted us that he has removed it from his person," they explained.

Ironwood stood up. "What. When did this happen?"

"Just now, sir."

"And where was this?"

"On Patch, sir."

"Patch?" Ironwood scratched at his chin. "I need my men looking for him. Send alerts to every police department in Vale. He helped in the fall of Beacon… alert the other headmasters as well—I don't want risk of another attack. And I want him found and taken into custody. Alert me when he is."

"Yes, sir."

"You are dismissed."

The soldier saluted before turning and leaving the office. They went to fulfill their orders.

 _What was Mercury Black, of all people, doing on Patch…_

Ironwood sighed and pulled out his scroll. He dialed Qrow's number.

* * *

"Whose scroll's ringing?" Ruby wondered.

"Not mine!" Nora said from the couch.

"Mine is powered off," Ren informed.

"Nope." Jaune shook his head.

Team RNJR (Plus Qrow) were on an airship towards Mistrial. They had been treated for their wounds and were just waiting for the ship to land. Qrow had been checked by the doctors and was now resting from his poison wounds.

Ruby thought. "Hmm. It's not mine either…"

"Maybe it's Qrow's?" Jaune suggested.

"Could be." Ruby walked over to where Qrow's belongings were placed. She rummaged through the pockets until she located the scroll. "Huh," she said, looking at the caller ID. "It's from a person named… Jimmy."

"Well, answer it!" Nora chimed. "Let's find out who this 'Jimmy' is!"

Ruby answered the call. "Hello?"

 _"Oh,"_ said the voice, _"you're not Qrow."_

"Who is this?" she wondered, the long-distance call distorted their voice slightly.

 _"General Ironwood of Atlas,"_ they informed. _"Whom am I speaking to?"_

Ruby covered the bottom part of the scroll. "It's Ironwood!" she whispered loudly.

"What?" Jaune demanded.

"Put him on speaker!" Nora jumped up.

"What could he want with Qrow?" Ren wondered.

Ruby placed the call on speaker. "Uh, I'm Ruby Rose."

"Nora Valkyrie!"

"Jaune Arc."

"Lie Ren,"

 _"Hmm,"_ Ironwood thought, _"where is Qrow?"_

"He's resting," Nora explained, "he got poisoned by this weird dude with a scorpion tail!"

"He's fine!" Ruby interrupted quickly.

 _"…Scorpion tail…?"_

"Yeah," Ruby sadly agreed. "General Ironwood, why did you call Uncle Qrow?"

 _"I was hoping to talk to him about an arrangement we made,"_ Ironwood explained. _"Is Mercury Black there by any chance?"_

"What? No." Ruby said. "Uncle Qrow dropped him off at my house—Uh! I just remembered he's, uh, in the room with Uncle Qrow! He got injured as well! Heh… heh… Yeah, he's here!"

"What?" Jaune blinked. "No he's—mmph!"

Ruby reach over and covered his mouth.

 _"Miss. Rose,"_ Ironwood said, disappointed, _"Mercury Black is a wanted fugitive as of today. If you are lying to me about his whereabouts, then you can get arrested for withholding information from the law."_

They went silent.

 _"Is Mercury Black with Qrow Branwen?"_ Ironwood repeated.

Ruby sighed, "…No… Uncle Qrow dropped him off at my house a long time ago. He should be with my father. Don't get mad at Uncle Qrow! Mercury would have slowed him down from his work!"

 _"I'm not angry at Qrow,"_ Ironwood explained. _"Disappointed, but not angry. I need to speak with him. Are you sure there is no way for me to speak with him?"_

"Well…" Ren looked at where Qrow was. "He _could_ be awake."

"I'll check!" Nora said. "Come on, Ren!"

She pulled him to his feet and the two of them hurried off to where Qrow was resting. Everyone was silent for a moment. Jaune spoke up.

"So, uh, General Ironwood," he started, "why did you want to know if Mercury was here?"

 _Right! Jaune doesn't know what Mercury did!_

 _"Mercury Black has been given a few rules to follow in order to be on parole,"_ Ironwood explained. _"He broke one of the rules, and I am calling Qrow—who is supposed to be watching him—to find out where he is so he can go back to prison."_

"Oh."

Nora and Ren appeared back into the room. "Qrow's out cold. He won't be waking up soon." Nora informed.

 _"Hmm. That's too bad,"_ Ironwood sincerely said. _"Can you tell him that I need to speak with him urgently when he wakes up?"_

"Sure thing!" Ruby saluted.

 _Why did I salute?_

 _"In that case, have a good day."_

"Bye!" Nora exclaimed.

Ironwood shut off the call.

The three turned to Ruby. "What just happened?" Jaune wondered. "Why is Mercury on parole?"

Ruby awkwardly scratched the back of her head. "Hah… I never told you, did I?"

"Told us what?" Nora asked.

"Mercury… assisted Cinder in her plans against Beacon," she explained. "Yang's arrest was part of the plan, he stopped me from saving Penny… And—"

"You're telling me that he helped in Pyrrha's death!" Jaune demanded.

"Not really! That was all Cinder! He filmed the battle… though…"

"He filmed while we were out defeating the Grimm!" Nora exclaimed. "How could he do that?"

"And he works with Tyrian, doesn't he?" Ren mentioned. "Qrow and him both mentioned Mercury."

"I don't know about that part…" Ruby admitted. "But yeah… I don't know how he could do this. I left before I could ask."

"Let's help Ironwood hunt him down!" Jaune turned to everyone. "People like that shouldn't be free."

Ruby stopped him. "I don't know. Yang and dad were supposed to 'help' him, I guess. They were supposed to put him on the better path. I don't know what happened—but something good probably didn't. Dad was a Huntsman, I know he's fine. But Mercury… something happened that made him break his rules. I want to find out what. And help him."

"You want to _help_ him?" Jaune clarified.

She lowered her head. "I know it sounds childish and naïve. But I feel like he's just misguided. We need to help him. He doesn't see the light like we do."

"Even the most tinted soul can be saved by the help of others," Ren agreed.

"Are you serious?" Jaune demanded. "Nora, are you agreeing with this?"

Nora thought. "Ah… I mean, he didn't do anything _that_ bad right? No one was harmed? Besides, maybe he just needs a little help!"

"I can't believe this," Jaune muttered. "Nothing _that_ bad? He helped in the fall of Beacon!"

"He's just a… very lost soul?" Nora suggested.

"Come on, Jaune," Ruby turned to him, "we can help him—but not without your help. What do you say? At least give him a try?"

Jaune looked at them all before sighing in defeat. "Okay. But the moment he does _anything_ evil, we're alerting Ironwood. Okay?"

Ruby nodded. "Okay!"

 _Oum, I hope this doesn't backfire._

* * *

It took Mercury a couple days (almost a week or so) to get on the right path that Yang was going.

She had her motorcycle, Bumblebee, and he didn't.

He also had to stowaway onto the ship that went to Anima. That was easy. He managed to sneak on and off without being detected. Once he got to Anima, he went to one of the dust shops and bought some extra dust. He had filled up while on Patch but wanted some extra rounds—just in case.

As he walked through the streets of a small waterside village, he whipped out the scroll he stole from Taiyang's house. He opened it and located his tracker. It wasn't hard. All he needed to do was get onto Qrow's scroll and send himself a link to his tracker. That took only a minute or so.

Yang was headed towards the Mistrial area. So that is where Mercury was headed.

He accidentally bumped into someone passing by and mumbled a quick "sorry," there was no need to be called out for being rude. He had his hood on, meaning someone shouldn't be able to recognise him.

There was no doubt that Ironwood found out that he escaped. He figured that everyone in Sanus would be alerted to what he looks like, there was probably a bounty on his head. But here on Anima, there was a less chance of that happening. It was a good thing that the next attack was on Haven, maybe him being a fugitive may die down.

Unlikely, since he would be also at the fall of Haven.

Hmm. Maybe he could steal a motorcycle? Yang had Bumblebee, so it would make sense to have one as well. All he needed was to find one easy to steal.

Mercury walked around bars and pubs—where biker gangs or someone with a motorcycle might go. After his fifth bar, he managed to find a lone motorcycle. It was silver with black seats and gear. Perfect. Mercury walked over to the motorcycle and looked closely at it. He pretended to admire it.

His high jacking skills were a little rusty. But he should be able to start the motorcycle up easily. He sat on the seat and reached for the start button, it started smoothly.

 _Huh. Must be one of those newer bikes._

 _Also, the person who owns this is an idiot._

Mercury backed out of the stall, thankful that whoever owned this bike didn't lock it. He headed down the road, towards where Yang was. He did hear yells of "Hey! That's my bike!" behind him, but it soon was all lost to the sound of the motor.

It was a good thing his father taught him how to ride a motorcycle or this would have been disastrous.

 _This is too easy._

 _I don't like it._

* * *

When Mercury arrived at where Yang was (a small gas station called 'Just Rite') she was outside talking to a guy. He was a bandit, no doubt, it was obvious from the way he talked and dressed. Marcus took Mercury on a few assassinations the Branwen tribe leader—Raven—hired him for. It was mostly just Huntsmen that worked for the Mistrial Council or Professor Lionheart of Haven Academy. So, Mercury has met a few bandits in his life.

He pulled up beside Bumblebee.

"Hey, blondie," he greeted, "long time no see?"

Yang turned to him, shock on her face. "Mercury Black," she demanded, "I thought that you weren't allowed to leave dad's house? Or be alone? And where is your tracker?"

"All valid questions," he raised his hands after shutting off the motorcycle. "I'll answer them all in due time—"

"You'll answer them now if you don't want me to call Ironwood on you." She crossed her arms. "What did you do?"

"I did nothing!" he lied. "Your father suggested that I go and find you so that I, I don't know, help you with whatever you're doing. It's his fault. Not mine."

"Would it hurt your feeling to say I don't believe you."

"Yes."

"Well, I don't."

"Hold up," Shay interrupted, "you're Mercury Black?"

"What's it to you?" Mercury snapped.

Shay raised his hands. "Nothing, just… Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"You're mistaking me for my father. Marcus Black. He's dead."

"Hmm." Shay thought. "Well, you can come as well, I guess."

"Sweet." Mercury said. "I got my own bike."

"Did you steal it?" Yang demanded.

"You don't got any proof." He shrugged.

Yang sighed, "Once we're with Qrow, you better answer everything—truthfully."

"Of course."

 _Nope._

"So, where are we going?" Mercury wondered.

"I'm looking for Raven Branwen," she mentioned. "And he knows where she is."

"Alright," he fired up the motorcycle, "let's go."

* * *

The three drove down an old dirt road for some time.

Yang turned to Shay. "How much further, pal?"

"This should just about do it…" he explained.

The two drivers pulled over in a small clearing. Mercury shut off his motorcycle, Yang did the same.

Shay got off of Bumblebee. "You wait here… I'll go up ahead and make sure the coast is clear."

He turned and walked into the bushes. Yang took off her sunglasses and got off of Bumblebee. Mercury stayed on the motorcycle.

He sighed, "If we get into a fight, I'll sit this one out."

She turned to him. "Why? You chicken?"

"Nah, just not in the mood."

 _Plus I need to see what your robotic arm can do in a fight._

 _This is valuable knowledge for when I have to fight you again._

She scoffed, "Sure."

She took off her gloves and the extra tail from her jacket. She stretched, her robotic arm whirling. There was the sound of a gun clicking and Yang whirled around quickly. Her robotic arms deflected a gunshot that sparked with red.

"Ooh." Mercury raised his eyebrows.

Yang turned around and saw Shay walk out of the bushes, followed by a bunch of bandits.

He spread his arms, Shay began to speak. Mercury leaned against the handlebars of his motorcycle, it didn't concern him.

Yang retorted with some quick quip about the number of bandits against her.

Shay didn't seem to know who he was up against.

 _I'd be careful with what you say, buddy, even Yang beat_ me.

 _To be fair, I let her the first few times._

 _But she's still a strong huntress._

The two got into a small conversation. Shay obviously thought that he was going to take Yang's bike, Yang wasn't buying it. After Shay talked about repaying for his tooth, Mercury spoke up.

"Don't bloody them up _too_ badly, blondie." He smirked.

She turned and glanced at him. "Don't count on it."

Yang activated Ember Celica. That made the bandits uncomfortable. Then she activated her robotic arm, Mercury raised an eyebrow.

 _Interesting…_

"Alright…." Shay said, he looked at the bandits. "Get her!"

The bandits approached Yang, and she sauntered over to them. Mercury smirked from his motorcycle as Yang started to defeat the bandits. He nodded his head at how she kicked them with perfect form.

 _Stop complementing the enemy!_

At one point, she even used her arm to deflect bullets. Mercury had done the same thing many times with his own legs. He knows how beneficial it can be.

Yang managed to take down three bandits all at the same time. Shay shot Yang with his gun and she dodged. He then tried to shoot her again, but his gun jammed. She lunged at him and punched him in the face, he knocked out a bandit before falling to the ground.

She finished fighting the bandits and walked back over to Bumblebee.

As she walked over, Shay coughed. "Who… are you?"

Yang ignored him.

"It doesn't even matter!" He slowly got up. "When Raven finds out what you did, you're dead!"

Yang sighed, "Possibly… but I doubt it." She turned to him. "I'm her daughter, after all."

 _What._

Yang got back on her motorcycle. She moved her sunglasses, gloves, and extra coat tail before sitting down.

Shay looked at the ground, petrified. " _I'm_ dead…" He then fell to the ground, beat.

Yang turned to Mercury. "You coming or what?"

He blinked out of his surprise. "I'm coming."

The two headed off towards the town.

 _Yang's Raven's daughter?_

 _Huh. Interesting._

 _I wonder if I could use that against her…_

* * *

"He _what?"_

"That's what General Ironwood told us."

"This really isn't surprising, he _is_ the late Marcus Black's son."

"Can you be quiet for a moment, Oz? I need to think."

Qrow rubbed at his forehead in disbelief. He needed something to drink. He pulled out his flask only to find it empty. Disappointed, he placed it back into his pocket. Everyone was sitting in the living room of the apartment, each in a different spot. Oscar—or Ozpin, as he was currently the one who was in control—was sitting on the couch, Qrow was beside him.

"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked. "You still haven't called back the general yet."

"I know," Qrow admitted, "I'm stalling."

"Oh."

Qrow sighed, "Start from the beginning again?"

Nora jumped at the opportunity. "So! While we were on the ship, Ironwood called up and we were all like 'whose scroll is that!' we managed to find that it was your scroll and answered it—well, Ruby answered it! Then she spoke with Ironwood and we finally talked with him! Ironwood then told us the Mercury is a fugitive and you're supposed to be his watcher or something like that—"

"I got it," Qrow interrupted. "So, this whole thing backfired. Just great. I really should have expected this…"

"Where is Mr. Black currently?" Ozpin asked.

"He's supposed to be with Tai," Qrow informed, "but I doubt that he is. And Tai isn't picking up his scroll."

"Maybe it ran out of battery?" Jaune suggested.

Ruby shook her head. "No. Dad always has it plugged in and charged."

"Where would he be heading?" Ren asked.

"If the next attack is at Haven academy," Ozpin started, "then that might be where he is headed."

"Nah," Qrow shook his head, "the kid's a professional. He'll be laying low and meeting up with whoever is going to be at the attack."

"That could serve as a problem," Ozpin mentioned. "We need to locate Mr. Black before Salem or James make it to him first."

"How are we going to do that?" Ruby asked. "It's not like we have a lot at our disposal."

Qrow sighed and pulled out his scroll. "I would suggest we find his tracker, but it would be broken by now."

"Can you try anyway?" Ruby wondered.

Qrow opened his scroll and found the app. He then stared at the screen as a small red dot flickered near the forest of Anima. "Huh," he mused, "guess the kid didn't destroy it after all."

"Where is he?" Jaune asked.

"Oh no." Qrow huffed. "I know where he is, and it's not good."

"Where—"

"He's near Raven."

Ozpin thought for a moment. "Why would he go to your sister?"

"Beats me," Qrow shrugged, "don't know why _anyone_ would want to go to her. Though he might be trying to cash in his favour from her."

"What favour?" Ruby asked.

"Marcus Black was an excellent assassin," Qrow explained, "he would occasionally do the tribe favours, such as killing people bandits couldn't. He didn't get much pay for it, and so he would ask for favours instead. Up until his death, he has only ever used one favour. I don't know what it was because I left before then."

"So Mercury is going to use a favour with Raven for… what?" Jaune wondered.

"That we do not know, Mr. Arc," Ozpin explained. "He could, possibly, have got in contact with Salem and is following her orders."

"He wouldn't have been able to do that unless he stole a scroll," Qrow muttered.

"Is that _really_ out of his skill set?" Nora mentioned.

Qrow sighed, "No. It's not."

Ozpin thought for a moment. "Can I speak to Qrow, alone?"

Ruby blinked. "Sure."

"No," Jaune countered, "what you have to say to Qrow, you can say to us."

"Jaune…" Ruby complained.

"No," Ozpin interrupted, "Mr. Arc is correct. What I can say, I can say in front of you. But I would rather go over my idea with Qrow first."

Nora grabbed Jaune's arm. "We'll leave!"

Jaune followed her as led him out. Ruby and Ren followed after. Only Qrow and Ozpin were left.

"What is it, Oz?" Qrow wondered. "Thinking Mercury's after Spring?"

"Yes, actually," Ozpin answered.

Qrow looked up at him. "Why would he go after Spring?"

"He works for Salem, yes?" Ozpin started. "Is it possible that he could use his favour in exchange for Spring?"

Qrow shook his head. "Nah. Raven's not the best with blood family, but she considers the tribe her family. She wouldn't trade them just because of a favour from a dead assassin's son. _Especially_ for someone as powerful as Spring."

Ozpin thought for a moment. "I sure hope that you are correct."

Qrow scoffed, "I am. Trust me. Raven would _never_ give up Spring."

"You do realise that your sister being protective will not aid us in finding Spring?"

"Yeah," Qrow sighed before taking a swing from his flask, "yeah, I do."

* * *

Mercury and Yang walked into Raven's camp. The bandits led them to where the large hut was.

 _There. That is where Raven is at._

Mercury smirked to himself at the thought.

 _Let's get this plan on the role. Shall I?_

Mercury watched as a tall raven-haired woman step out of the hut. She had a white and red mask on, and her weapon hung from her side. She took off her mask.

"Yang?" she asked.

"Mom," Yang greeted.

 _So, this is Raven._

 _Hmm…_

Raven gestured to Mercury. "Who's this?"

"He's—"

Mercury cut Yang off. "Mercury Black."

"Black," Raven echoed. "Like—"

"Marcus Black?" he gritted out, placing on a fake smile. "The very same. He's my father."

Raven hummed, "I suppose he sent you to cash in his favour?"

"Don't be silly," Mercury shook his head, "he's dead. And, if I remember your rules, that means that the favour is now _mine._ And I won't cash it now unless I need too. _"_

Raven looked at Yang. "This is who you associate with?"

"Not really," Yang admitted, "he's a special case."

"Thank you." He tilted his head to her.

Yang ignored him.

Raven spoke up, "I suppose we have business to talk about…"

She and Yang spoke—argued—and Mercury looked around the camp. Almost all of the bandits were outside, watching them. He winked at a few of the female bandits, one swoon while one glared.

 _I need to work on my charm then._

There was a large cage covered with a tarp. Mercury brushed it off. It didn't matter what the bandits did. His only concern was himself. (Which branched out to Salem and Qrow.)

Mid-argument, the cage burst open. To be fair, Yang had noticed Weiss. Mercury wasn't too pleased with the heiress being here. But hey, this is why his plans are always flexible.

Weiss broke out of her cage, a large soldier behind her. All of the bandits raised their weapons at the three of them.

Mercury blinked. That was unexpected.

The W of team RWBY ran over to Yang. They stood back-to-back, ready to fight. Mercury stood off to the side, a gun pointed at his head. He rubbed at his nose.

"Enough!" Raven roared. Yang and Weiss turned to her, the bandits lowered their weapons. "You," she looked at Yang, "get inside. We need to talk. Bring your friends too."

Mercury walked back to the two girls. They embraced in a hug. "We going or…"

"Mercury?" Weiss demanded. "How—?"

"I'll explain later," he interrupted. "Shall we?"

The three teenagers walked into Raven's hut.

* * *

 _That was quite a story._

The three sat in front of Raven, tea in their hands. Mercury was the only one polite enough to drink it (Marcus made sure that he would be insusceptible to poison when he was little. Mercury wasn't worried if Raven poisoned it).

"That's… quite a story," Weiss managed to say.

"You don't believe me," Raven noted.

"I have to agree with Weiss. I don't think that's the truth," Yang mentioned.

Mercury smirked. He already knew the basics of what Raven said. He was also happy that she didn't mention silver eyed warriors. He didn't want anymore questioning.

"Your silver eyed friend thinks it is," Raven mentioned.

 _Oum._

"I don't have—" Mercury stopped himself. He suddenly remembered that Yang knows. He told her. He changed what he was going to say. "I never said I agreed with you."

"Hmm." Raven turned to Yang. "I'll show you who the man Ozpin really is. And what he did to your uncle and me."

With that, she stood up and left the three teenagers alone.

Weiss turned to Mercury. "What did she say about your eyes?"

"Nothing important," he brushed her off and stood up, "shall we?"

He led the two outside. Raven wasn't there.

"Maybe she left?" Weiss suggested.

"No…" Mercury looked around. He heard the beat of a bird's feather as saw a black object soar towards them. Just as it passed a tree, the bird transformed into Raven. "No. Way."

"Yes way." Raven looked up.

"He turned you into _birds?"_ Weiss demanded.

"Practically." Raven shrugged.

Yang didn't say anything.

"Yang…?" Mercury wondered. "You going to respond to your mother's special ability?"

She opened her mouth. "Take me to Qrow."

"Why would I do that?" Raven wondered.

"Dad told me about your semblance. About how you form bonds with people you care about. A bond with dad, me, and Qrow."

Raven narrowed her eyes. "Or you can stay with me."

"I need to find Ruby. She's with Qrow," Yang explained.

"She's already a lost cause."

"Hey!" Weiss snapped. "That's my teammate you're talking about!"

Raven looked at the three. "Fine. You want to go to Qrow…?" She took out her weapon and created a red portal behind her. "You can go. But the next time we meet, I won't be so considerate."

"You weren't this time," Yang grumbled.

She went and grabbed Bumblebee, riding it to the back.

When she arrived, she looked at Mercury. "What about your bike?"

"Oh," he shrugged, "it's not mine."

"I knew it." She turned to them. "Climb on."

Weiss and Mercury climbed onto the bike. Yang then carefully drove it through the portal. Raven watched, disappointed, as they disappeared.

She then closed the portal.

* * *

The three exited the portal and landed on a balcony overlooking Mistrial. Qrow was leaning forward on the ledge. He turned and looked at the three people.

"Yang?" he asked as she took off her helmet.

"Mercury," he grumbled when Mercury took off his own.

"Hey Qrow," Mercury greeted, "miss me?"

"I hope you realise that you're in a lot of trouble," Qrow mentioned. "You're a wanted fugitive."

Mercury shrugged. "Eh? What can you do?"

"Qrow," Yang got off of Bumblebee, Mercury and Weiss followed suit, "where's Ruby?"

"Inside." He gestured to the door with his head. "Good to see you, kid. We need the help."

Yang gestured to the door with her arm. "Lead the way."

* * *

While Teams RWY/JNR caught up on events, Mercury stayed back. He didn't need to listen in on their conversations and become _attached_ to anyone. He had a mission.

They were only a bump in his mission.

He needed to get Qrow to _not_ find Spring.

But Mercury hadn't _exactly_ figure out how he was going to do that…

He sat in one of the chairs in the living room. Thinking to himself. He noticed when a small farmhand awkwardly walked into the room. He had just come from the direction Qrow left a while ago. Qrow had tried to retire off to sleep or something. Mercury didn't really care.

"Uh, hi," the farmhand started, "I don't think we've met. I'm Oscar." He held out his hand, Mercury turned to him.

"Mercury." He shook Oscar's hand. "So, how'd you get roped up in this mess?"

Oscar opened his mouth but cut himself off and glanced at the floor. He then spoke up, "I, uh, I met a person who ended up messing with my life. It isn't fun."

"Huh." Mercury nodded. "What's your weapon?"

"Uh," Oscar rubbed the back of his neck, "I have a cane…"

"Like old man Oz," Mercury joked.

Oscar tensed up. Then he awkwardly laughed. "Yeah…" he cleared his throat. "So, uh, I heard that you have silver eyes… Like a silver eyed warrior…?"

Mercury tensed this time. He turned and glared at Oscar, the younger flinching from his gaze. "Oh yeah? And who told you?"

"Your eyes," Oscar explained, "are silver."

Mercury huffed and crossed his arms and legs. "I _seriously_ have to find out what is people's obsessions with eye colours…"

"Well, silver eyed warriors were feared warriors," Oscar mentioned, "able to stop Grimm with one look. That kind of power is handy now. I guess that people just want to imagine it to be real."

"And do you think it's real?"

"Honestly," Oscar sighed, "I don't know what to think anymore."

Mercury mused in agreement. "Smart answer." He got up. "Is there anything we're to do tonight, or can I go to sleep."

"Not so fast," Qrow appeared from the doorway, "you still have to answer my questions."

Mercury sighed, "Like what?"

"Why did you take off your tracker?"

"If I kept it on I would have been killed."

"Who wanted to kill you?"

"Salem," Mercury lied. "She managed to locate my tracker. She was sending troops to my location. If I didn't escape, I would have died."

"Now, why would Salem want to kill _you?"_ Qrow wondered. "Thought you worked for her."

"She doesn't like it when her pawns get captured by the enemy," Mercury explained. "Not that I blame her."

"How come you didn't contact me?"

Mercury rolled his eyes. "I'm not to go on scrolls, remember? Tai wasn't willing to call you up for me."

"He wasn't?" Qrow raised an eyebrow. "How very un-Tai like that is."

Mercury shrugged. "Don't shoot the messenger. Anyway, I met up with Yang and we managed to catch a ride here from your sister. Weiss also tagged along."

"And if I were to ask Yang and Weiss…?"

"They would say the same thing."

Qrow nodded and pulled out his scroll. "Care to explain why Tai isn't picking up?"

Mercury shook his head. "Nope. Don't know."

Qrow slid his scroll away. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't tell Ironwood about you?"

Mercury thought. "Because in order for everything to have happened, you would have had to fail your one job: watching over me. Everything happened because you ditched me. Sorry, but it's the truth."

Oscar sucked in a deep breath and gasped before straightening his posture and turning to Mercury. "Mr. Black, I would think that because of your line of work that everything happened."

Mercury blinked. Oscar seemed… different.

"How do you know my last name?" Mercury demanded. It wasn't good if a _farmland_ from _Mistrial_ knew he was Mercury Black, assassin-extraordinaire.

Qrow sighed and sat in one of the chairs.

Not-Oscar stayed standing. "Mr. Black, how much did Salem tell you?"

"About what?"

Qrow and Not-Oscar shared a look. "Look, kid." Qrow started, "I don't trust you. We wouldn't be having this conversation if it was up to me—"

"And it isn't?" Mercury guessed.

"Not exactly," Qrow turned to Not-Oscar, "he seems to think that you're trustworthy. Yang as well. So shut up and listen."

"Qrow…" Not-Oscar chastised.

The taller man simply waved Not-Oscar off.

Qrow turned back to Mercury. "We know you know about the Four Maidens, you wouldn't have gone against Fall if you didn't. We want to know how _much_ you know about them."

Mercury thought for moment.

 _Time to lie._

"Well, I don't know anything. I only knew that we were fighting someone powerful. I wasn't told anything. I work under Cinder, didn't exactly get a one-to-one meeting with Salem.

"Besides, now even Salem wants me dead. It would be wise to trust me."

"Not after everything you pulled," Qrow muttered. "So you know nothing of _anything?_ Anything at all? Anyone Salem wants dead?"

"The entire human population." Mercury shrugged.

"Mr. Black," Not-Oscar added before Qrow could do something regrettable, "did you know that you were going to fight Fall?"

"Yeah." He shrugged. "That's not much a secret."

"What else do you know, regarding that story?" Not-Oscar wondered.

Mercury huffed, "The Four Maidens, yatta-yatta-ya. Salem wanted Ozpin dead, he's dead. Fall now works for Salem. Stuff everyone knows."

"Why did Salem want Ozpin dead?" Not-Oscar asked.

Mercury shrugged. "Beats me. Didn't ask, didn't care."

"Finally, Mr. Black, what do you know about the Wizard who gave the Maidens their powers?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. Never cared. He's an old man, gave them magic, then poof! went away."

Qrow and Not-Oscar shared another look. "The Wizard from the story," Qrow started, "transfers his powers like the Maidens. Though, instead of just the magic, the memories transfer as well. Reincarnation."

"The Ozpin you knew," Not-Oscar started, "was not the Wizard's last form."

"Let me guess," Mercury raised a hand, "Oscar, here, is the new what? Wizard? Ozpin?" The two were silent. "It's obvious. One minute you act like a shy kid, the next much, like how Ozpin acted. The stance, sentence structure, vocabulary. You practically wrote it across your face. Plus, why would a kid use a _cane_ as a weapon? Only old men, like Ozpin, would."

"He's more observant than we alleged," Ozpin said to Qrow.

"No kidding," Qrow grumbled.

"Hey, it's what I do for a living." Mercury shrugged. "In my line of work, you gotta be observant."

"Very well, Mr. Black," Ozpin said. "You guessed correctly. Now, I have a proposition to make."

"I am not learning _anything_ about silver eyes," Mercury immediately said.

"How did you know?"

"It would be the only thing you would ask!" Mercury explained. "I spent my whole life not doing anything with my eyes, and I shall continue doing nothing with them. Salem already wants me dead, I don't want to go higher on her Kill List."

"Mr. Black," Ozpin tried, "it would incredibly useful—"

"Then go ask Ruby!" he mentioned. "She has silver eyes too."

"Miss. Rose is—"

"Is what?" Mercury demanded. "Young, innocent, hasn't killed people?"

Ozpin didn't finish his sentence.

Mercury scoffed, "That's what I thought."

He stood up. "Go and explain this to Yang and Weiss, I'm heading to bed."

He left the room and headed down the hallway. He paused. Mercury slapped his forehead once he realised that he didn't know _where_ his room was. Or even if he had a room.

 _Stupid. Letting your emotions control your thinking. Amateur mistake._

 _Don't let it happen again._

He accidentally bumped into Jaune while he was chastising himself.

"Woah," Mercury said.

"Sorr—oh," Jaune started.

"Oh?" Mercury asked. "Not happy to see me?"

"Not exactly," Jaune admitted.

"Chill, I'm on your side."

"Only because the other side wants you dead."

"Heard that?"

"It's not exactly hidden knowledge."

Mercury shrugged. "Whatever. Take me or leave me, I don't care. Hey, do you know where I would bunk?"

"No."

With that, Jaune turned and walked down the hallway. Mercury stood in the centre.

"Welp, that went great."

 _To be fair, he's right to be skeptical._

 _Smart, Jaune, too cynical. That'll be your downfall…_

* * *

In the next morning, Mercury had to go outside with everyone else to train.

By this time, everyone knew that Oscar was Ozpin and that Qrow was a bird.

He currently sat by the back of the house, Ren was meditating near him. Yang and Ruby were 'sister-sparring', which was normal sparring but with more comments than normal. Mercury didn't care what Nora, Weiss, and Jaune were doing.

Mercury laid back, letting his legs rest. The none-stop moving was making his stumps ache.

"A soul's nature is not defined by what the person does, but by what the person believes," Ren spontaneously started.

Mercury turned to him and blinked. "What?"

"Mercury," Ren kept his eyes close, "did you believe in doing what you did?"

"That's depends on what we are specifically talking about."

"The fall of Beacon," Ren clarified.

"Would it break your heart if I said 'yes'?"

Ren opened his eyes. "No. Why did you help in the fall of Beacon?"

"Because it's my job."

"No," Ren closed his eyes, "because you chose to. Why?"

"I find great amusement in other's suffering? What are you looking for?" Mercury wondered.

"Would you find amusement if you personally interacted with everyone affected by the fall of Beacon?" Ren wondered. "If you were in their position?"

Mercury thought. "If you're trying to get me to 'see clearly', stop. It won't work. I picked a path and I'm venturing along. Just because I'm working with you doesn't mean I'm turning a new leaf. It's too late to turn back."

"It's never too late to turn back," Ren countered.

Mercury softly chuckled. "I think it is for me."

"No." Ren opened his eyes again. "If it was, you wouldn't be working with us."

Mercury didn't have a response to that.

 _Hah._

 _Too bad I'm_ not _working with you, you bunch of foolable good-guys._

Ren closed his eyes again and the two sat in silence once again.

* * *

"Hey, Mercury?" Ruby wondered as the group headed back inside. He turned to her. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

He blinked. "Sure."

 _That's not smart._

 _I could kill you while alone and frame it as a Grimm attack, or a bandit attack, or an assassin out to get me (my father was not very friendly to the other assassins) and Ruby got caught in the cross-fires._

Soon, they were the only ones outside.

"So… what do you want to talk about?" he wondered, slipping his hands into his pockets.

She turned to him. "Did you mean what you said about how you're working with us, but you're not going to change?"

"Why does it matter?" Mercury crossed his arms.

"Are you going to go back to being a criminal?"

Mercury furrowed his brow. "No. After this there is a high chance of me going to jail. I _did_ break the rules of my parole. You don't have to worry about me running around the streets."

She didn't look impressed. "Mercury…"

"Ruby…" he mimicked. "Why did you want to talk?"

"I can't decide what to think about you!" she admitted. "One minute you're our friend, the next you're aiding in the fall of Beacon, then you're back to working with us! What is with you?"

Mercury sighed and brushed a hand through his hair. "Listen, Ruby. I'm not what you call loyal. I am not loyal to _anyone_ but myself. I switch sides because of the situations, I chose the side that will not kill me. I was your friend because it benefited me, then working with Cinder did, and now working with you guys are safer than working under Salem. Don't take it personally, but I have a slight trust problem. As does everyone in my line of work. We're not the good guys. We don't stay to one side because it's what's _good,_ we join the side that won't send us for dead."

"So if working for Salem is more beneficial…?"

"Don't worry," Mercury stopped her, "Salem wants me dead. She won't switch views on that. In her mind, if you're a threat to her then you need to die. I'm apparently a threat, so are you."

"Why? Why is she so _horrible?"_ Ruby wondered.

"That's something no one knows," he answered. "Not everything is black and white. Salem has her reasons for being bad as you have yours for being good."

"I wish everything was easier to understand…"

He chuckled, _I hate this so much._ "So do I. But it's not. So we have to buck up and focus on our plan."

She nodded. "Yeah…"

He gestured to the house. "Shall we?"

She nodded.

The two turned and joined the others inside the building.

* * *

The doors to Haven opened and the group rushed inside. Standing on the inside balcony was Professor Leo Lionheart. He spotted Mercury in the group, and the assassin smirked at him. Lionheart cleared his throat and started to address the crowd.

Mercury quietly moved away from the group, towards the side. Yang and Weiss stood near the front, Ruby too. Nora and Ren behind them. Jaune and Oscar held back, both standing in the back. Oscar awkwardly grabbed his elbow as the adults chatted.

"Why did you bring your weapons?" Lionheart warily asked.

"What?" Qrow answered. "Leo, we're Huntsmen."

As the two conversed, Mercury noticed Yang looking over to the side. On the railing, a simple, black raven rested.

A raven much like…

"Mom?"

Qrow quickly shot at the raven. The raven flew behind Leo and transformed into Raven.

 _Huh. Didn't know that we were working with Raven…_

She surveyed the group before taking off her mask, eyes lingering on Mercury. The assassin simply smirked at her, much like with Lionheart.

"What are you doing here?" Qrow growled as Raven walked down the steps.

"I could ask you the same thing, little brother," she mused. "You've been scheming."

Qrow turned to Lionheart and demanded an explanation. Mercury only watched, amused, from the sidelines. Raven defended Leo.

"He did as anyone would do in his position," she explained. "He saw the information in front of him, assessed the situation, and made a choice. It seems you all have too."

Qrow stepped forward. "Do you have the Spring Maiden?"

"I do."

"Then hand her over and let's work together. We'll beat Salem if we work together."

Raven snapped, "All that time spying for Ozpin and you _still_ have no idea what you're dealing with. Salem is unbeatable! There is _no_ beating Salem!"

 _True._

Mercury smirked from the side.

"No," Ruby spoke up, "you're wrong. There are things that people would call impossible, and we have been able to do. And the reason we were able to do it was because we didn't do it alone! We had people to teach us, people to help us, we had each other! Work with us, not against us! We'll have a better chance if we try together." She held out her hand to Raven. "Please."

Raven looked at Ruby's hand before ignoring it. "You sound _just_ like your mother," she spat.

Raven grabbed her sword and cut a portal through the air. A fireball is shot at Ruby from it. Cinder, Emerald, and Vernal emerged through.

"Hello boys and girls," Cinder chillingly greeted.

The portal closed behind them.

Mercury still smirked.

The door behind them opened, and Hazel slowly walked in. His footsteps thudding against the ground. Oscar recognised him and softly whispered to himself. Mercury raised an eyebrow, _so Oscar met Hazel before?_

Hazel slammed the door shut behind him.

He didn't turn to them before speaking with his gruff voice. "The White Fang is prepping the destruction and securing the area. No one's getting in, and no one's getting out."

"This was a trap," Weiss realised.

Ren agreed, "Appears so."

Qrow growled, "Raven, how long have you been with _them?"_

Cinder stepped forward. "Aww, don't take it personally, little bird. Your sister was only recently added. Unlike the lion… entrance into the Vytal festival was quite good. Leonardo's been working for Salem for a _very_ long time. Much like Mercury over there."

Qrow turned to look at Mercury, who smirked even more.

 _Time's up._

"Mercury?" Yang wondered. "What does she mean?"

He stepped forward and walked towards Cinder. "Really, blondie. Did you _really_ think I was with you? Are you just naïve or just stupid?"

She lunged forward, Qrow stopped her. "You lied to us."

"Duh," Mercury rolled his eyes, "why would I not?"

"Mercury had a special mission," Cinder explained, "to relay information and to delay you from finding Spring. He did his job, well… _partly._ Not much information was sent."

Mercury shrugged. "Didn't have a scroll."

Qrow glared at Mercury and Leo before speaking up. "It was you," he growled at Lionheart. He accused Lionheart of giving Salem information about every Huntsmen and Huntresses in Mistrial. Lionheart let Salem kill all of the Huntsmen and Huntresses.

Cinder was quick to make Lionheart feel better by mentioning how Tyrian and Hazel would have found them all eventually.

Did it make Lionheart better? No.

Did it make Mercury grin? Yes.

"What is wrong with you?" Jaune demanded, having his head hanging low as to hide the tears staining his cheeks. "How can you be so broken inside? To kill so many people and then to come here and present it in our faces like it's something to be proud of?"

Nora spoke warily, "Jaune…?"

He shot up his head and yelled at Cinder, "ALL WITH THAT DAMN SMILE ON YOUR FACE!"

Qrow tried to get everyone to stay calm as they brought out their weapons. It didn't work.

Cinder smiled. Mercury smiled even more. Only Emerald didn't smile. She seemed to be the only one out the three to feel any emotion akin to compassion.

Jaune continued to scream, "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID!"

"Kid!" Qrow exclaimed, trying to get Jaune to calm down.

 _Got your work cut out for you, Qrow._

Mercury watched the scene from the front.

Jaune continued to yell at Cinder. Her only response was:

"Who are you again?"

Jaune rushed at Cinder, his sword fully displayed. Cinder created her own fire sword and dueled against him. Ruby yelled his name and tried to help Jaune, but Emerald used her weapons and pulled Ruby to the ground.

"You're not getting near her."

Yang tried to rush off after Raven, and Mercury smiled.

 _My turn._

He used his boots and launched him into the air, landing in front of Yang.

"Mercury, get out of the way," she growled.

"No can do, blondie." He smirked. "Don't wanna upset the boss."

"How could you betray us?" she demanded. "We trusted you!"

"That was your mistake, not mine." He shrugged. "You shouldn't have done anything to trust me. Look at your father, he tried to help me and he's probably in the hospital."

Her eyes flashed red. _"_ What did you do."

"Dealt with an obstacle in my way," he answered. "Besides, how could he think he would beat me? He's trained to fight Grimm, I'm trained to fight people. Really, it wasn't exactly _fair."_

" _What did you do?"_

Mercury smirked and readied himself into a fighting stance. "Why don't you find out?"

She growled and shot Ember Celica behind her, propelling her forward.

* * *

Mid-way through the fight, Ruby screamed.

Mercury wasn't able to see her eyes directly, but there was a white glowing light from. And unlike everyone else, he didn't need to shield his eyes from the light. It didn't impact him.

Quickly, Emerald knocked Ruby in the back of her head and knocked her out. The light faded, and everyone could see clearly again.

Emerald and Cinder each shot Mercury, the only other silver eyed person in the room, a quick look. Emerald's was of 'is that what you can do?' and Cinder's was of 'don't you dare do that here.'

Cinder then grabbed her arm and collapsed to her knees in pain.

Mercury turned back to look at Yang. She unfroze, and they continued fighting. Yang seemed even more desperate, probably because her sister was unconscious.

That didn't matter to Mercury; the more desperate a fighter, the sloppier they were.

And he wasn't desperate at all.

* * *

The battle froze once more as Mercury landed back onto the ground. He had just been avoiding one of Yang's bullets.

He raised his arms up but slightly lowered them when he saw that Yang was turned away.

 _Huh?_

That wasn't like her. She's too smart of a fighter to turn away from the enemy unless something terrible had happened to an ally, or she trusted that the enemy wouldn't backstab her.

(And she was right about the second one. Mercury was _so_ ready for payback for his leg that he wanted to win by fighting, not by stabbing her in the back. He may be an assassin, but he's an honourable one.)

He saw what she was looking at and widened his eyes in surprise.

Weiss had a fire spear through her side.

She sat, shocked, on her knees, arms frozen mid-abdomen.

They slowly lowered as the spear disintegrated into ashes.

She fell forward.

"WEISS!"

 _…I did not plan for that to happen._

* * *

"Stop them!" Nora yelled to Yang. "We've got your team covered!"

Yang made a split-second decision and moved to run after Raven, Cinder, and Vernal who were going to head down to the vault.

 _Rude._

Emerald pulled her to the ground by her weapon and joined Mercury in front of Yang.

"You wanna get to them, you have to go through us. All of us."

Mercury crossed his arms as Emerald made copies of him that encircled Yang. Each Mercury smirked in a wave.

Yang got up and started to attack the Mercuries. Whenever she touched an illusion, it disappeared. Mercury, himself, watched with amusement as she fought with empty air.

She seemed to get angrier and angrier with every false hit.

Emerald then vanished the Mercuries, and Raven appeared.

Yang turned to her 'mother', and defused.

While she was busy, Mercury jumped at her and started to fight her. He kicked with his boots, bullets flying. She snapped out of the illusion and defended herself while Mercury advanced. He kicked her in the stomach, the leg, the face, and then roundhouse kicked her away. She ricocheted from the impact on the ground.

Ruby then used her scythe to fling herself across the hall. She stopped Emerald's and Mercury's advances, and the Mercuries faded back to one.

Yang stood up. "Thanks, sis."

They chatted as if Mercury and Emerald were not there.

Mercury rolled his eyes as Ruby said, "I'm angry," as if that made any difference to the scene.

 _She's just melodramatic._

She attacked them with her scythe, and Yang with her gauntlets. Mercury easily kicked Ruby's scythe out of her hand.

"Oops," he smirked, "my foot slipped."

Ruby turned and lunged towards Mercury and he dodged her punches as she advanced. He reached out to punch her, but she ducked under and jumped up, hitting his nose.

He stepped back and clutched his nose.

 _Ow._

"See you finally learnt some hand-to-hand," he sniffled. "Too bad you didn't know this back at the Vytal Festival. Hey, I didn't know you could make quarters out of a Penny."

She grabbed her scythe. Ruby growled, "Don't mention her name. You don't _get_ to mention her name. Any of their names."

Mercury sucked in a breath. "A little touchy, I see. Well, that's understandable. Though Nikos isn't touchable anymore, is she." He smirked. "Seeing as she's dust in the wind."

Unlike what he expected, Ruby didn't react.

 _Huh. She must be hiding her emotions._

 _Smart._

 _Never go into a battle while emotionally compromised._

* * *

Yang dashed passed the two and towards the elevator.

 _Rude x2. Did your father never teach you manners?_

Mercury grabbed her prosthetic arm. He saw her eyes turn red before blinking away to violet.

 _She controlled her semblance?_

 _She never did that before._

Her arm detached, and he stumbled slightly before continuing to run. Emerald kept up.

Mercury saw Yang jumped down into the elevator and would have followed if a wall of ice didn't form. The two criminals turned and saw Weiss with her weapon high in the air.

 _Great._

 _Now we have to fight even more than needed._

He looked up and saw the lights from the law enforcement through the windows.

 _The police are here._

 _Shi—_

 _Ironwood._

 _I_ definitely _can_ not _get arrested again._

 _There won't be any outs for me this time._

 _I'm screwed._

A giant shake erupted from underneath.

"Cinder?" Emerald wondered.

"Not likely…" Mercury muttered.

This shake was larger than anything Cinder alone could create.

"Spring?" He furrowed his brow.

 _Why would they fight?_

* * *

Soon, Hazel joined up with Mercury and Emerald.

He managed to destroy the Queen Lancer Weiss conjured up. But Blake Belladonna, the missing member of Team RWBY, landed on his face and propelled off of it. She slid to a stop beside Ruby and Weiss. Hazel stood up and he, Mercury, and Emerald sauntered towards Team RWB.

Ruby shot Lionheart with her scythe-gun and Lionheart ran off.

Mercury sighed, "Really? The _professor_ of a _battle school_ is going to run of because he lost his aura. Pathetic."

 _That's pathetic._

 _Fighting without aura is uncomfortable, but doable. I know from experience._

Beside him, Hazel roared.

 _Overdramatic much._

* * *

Eight people against three wasn't a fair fight. The three people lost.

Mercury's left prosthetic got shot and he collapsed to the floor. It was still functional, but the vibration from a bullet to the thigh brought him down.

"Damn it!" he growled.

"You shouldn't have crossed us," Ruby stated. "This is enough. Give it up. You lost."

Mercury smirked. "I don't give up that easily, Ruby."

Qrow aimed Harbinger at him. "Don't make me shoot you."

Mercury glared at him.

Emerald spoke up, "It's not over! We're not done! Cinder will come with the relic! She'll stop you all!" She spoke softly. "She won't let us down."

The sound of the elevator caught everyone's attention. They all turned their heads and watched as Yang, not Cinder, came to the top. Relic in hand.

Emerald's eyes widened. Tears pricked the corners. "No…" she softly whispered.

She dropped her weapons and fell to the ground, tears rushing.

Mercury slowly stood up and he and Hazel started to back away. "Emerald, get up. We need to go. Now."

She didn't move.

"Emerald!" Real emotional flowed through his voice. This was the first time is a long while.

Teams RWBY, JNR, Qrow and Oscar advanced. They kept on getting closer to Emerald, who hadn't moved.

Mercury gulped. Something flowed through his body, closing his throat, and making his stomach flutter.

It was the feeling of nerves.

Mercury Black, assassin, was nervous.

He would have laughed if he wasn't so nervous.

Emotion flooded his body, something he only felt while he was younger. He was worried for not just himself, but for Emerald.

 _I, I care about Emerald._

 _No._

 _I can't._

 _I'm not allowed to care for anyone's wellbeing but my own._

 _I'm not allowed friends._

 _Everyone is just a social cover._

 _But…_

 _Emerald…_

 _She's my friend._

He stepped forward to help her up. Something pricked at the back of his eyes, causing a huge pain in his forehead. His vision flared a soft white before he realised what was happening.

 _Oh no._

"Oh no," he softly uttered.

He used every ability he had to force his vision back. He lowered his head and tried to keep them from seeing his eyes flare white. He wasn't able to tell if they saw or not.

 _Keep the emotions down._

 _Keep the emotions down._

 _I don't care._

 _I don't care._

 _I DON'T CARE._

After a few seconds of forcing down his emotions, his vision cleared. The headache lingered, the noises were too loud, the lights too bright, and he eyes itched like someone sprinkled itching powder in them.

He ignored the itching, and the pain, and focused on Emerald.

He didn't notice both Hazel and Oscar looking at him, one in concern and one in worry—not of the white flare, but of something else.

Emerald moved to look up at everyone advancing on her, she frantically looked around. She grabbed her head and screamed loudly. Mercury didn't know what the other's saw, but he saw everyone turn pale and become scared at nothing.

Hazel grabbed Emerald and he and Mercury bolted from the school. Once they were out of the doors, Emerald fainted. Her illusion died.

They ran through the woods, hidden by the shadows of the trees in the dim moonlight.

* * *

 _What was that?_

"That was Salem," Ozpin explained. Everyone in the room turned to Ozpin, each with different emotions on their faces. Worry, fright, determination, pity… no two emotions were repeated.

Oscar went silent. It gave Ozpin a deafening peace.

"Salem?" Yang echoed.

Ozpin, still leaning on his cane, nodded. "It was as close to the real Salem as one could get; not being that tall, mind you. But yes, Miss. Xiao-Long, that was Salem."

Slowly, but surely, everyone put their weapons away.

Majorly weakened, Ozpin reverted back to Oscar. Eyes flashing golden for a second before he collapsed to his knees. Qrow turned to him, concerned.

"I'm fine," he managed.

That was a lie. And Qrow knew it was, but the older man stood up and walked over where the relic was.

 _Oscar,_ Ozpin managed, his voice quiet, _we need to take the relic to Atlas…_

Oscar nodded his head, then winced. He shouldn't have done that, it hurt. He grabbed his side, it pained him from the excess exercise he was not used too. He fought more in that one day then in his entire life.

Oscar managed to speak, though it hurt to do so, "Mercury… his eyes…"

 _If I had any doubt,_ Ozpin started, _it is gone… Mr. Black_ does _have the skill of a silver eyed warrior. Oscar… I do not think anyone else noticed…_ he paused, regaining his breath (does Ozpin even breathe? Oscar didn't know). _It would be wise if we kept this quiet. I do not think that Salem knows of his skill… or he wouldn't be alive…_

"What…" Oscar panted, "are you saying…?"

 _I suggest that we keep Mr. Black's secret… a secret… for his safety._

"You're planning… something."

 _Trust me, Oscar… I know what I am doing…_

"Do you?"

 _Yes…_ Ozpin sighed, exhausted. _I have to rest… Don't forget to tell Qrow…_

With that, the voice in Oscar's head disappeared.

This time, it filled Oscar with deafening silence.

Qrow came over to him, thinking Ozpin was in charge. Oscar quickly corrected him. Oscar's vision darkened, white spots danced in his eyes. He managed to tell Qrow where to take the relic before succumbing to unconsciousness.

He never managed to tell Qrow that Mercury activated his eyes.

* * *

The two ran through the forest, putting as much distance between them and Haven as they could. Hazel had Emerald strung over his shoulder, she was unconscious. Mercury ran by the taller man's side, keeping a small distance between them.

As they ran, Mercury tried to block out the declining pain from his head. Luckily, he hadn't fully activated his powers of else his head would be in an immense more pain. Mercury didn't know what Hazel was thinking—or even if he noticed his eyes—and he didn't want to know. It would be better if he didn't ask about it and not risk the chance of Salem finding out about his silver eyes—or that he nearly activated them.

He also didn't know where they were running too.

He looked up. All he saw was dark trees. There were no sounds beside from their footsteps and their harsh breathing.

After what seemed like eternity, Hazel stopped. Mercury followed suit, actually glad that he had prosthetics—his shins would have been killing him, as his thighs were. The taller man gently cleared away the sharp rocks from the ground and lowered Emerald there.

"You think they followed us?" Mercury wondered as Hazel used his jacket as Emerald's pillow.

"No," was the gruff reply.

"Yeah, Em's illusion would have thrown them off." Mercury went and looked around the area. "This where we're staying for the night?"

"Got anywhere better?" Hazel turned to him.

"Not complaining," Mercury raised both hands, "just asking a question."

Mercury walked around the area, he scanned the distance. "Luckily Salem managed to get the Grimm to avoid us, huh?" he asked. "Or we'd be in a hell of a lot more trouble."

He turned to look at Hazel, only for the man to grab his throat and pin him to a tree.

"What the!" Mercury demanded. His toes only managed to scrape the ground. "What are you doing?"

"What was that?" Hazel leaned close to Mercury's face, looking him in the eyes.

"What was what?" Mercury struggled. "Put me down!"

Hazel didn't listen. Mercury lifted his foot and fired straight into Hazel's leg. The only thing the man did was drop him, Hazel's semblance was activated. Mercury landed on his feet. With one hand he gripped his knees to keep from falling, with the other he gripped his neck, coughing.

 _This is_ not _helping my headache._

"Are you insane?" he demanded after his coughing fit. "You could have killed me."

"Listen here," Hazel said. Mercury looked up at him. "I didn't trust you before, and I certainly don't now. Not with that stunt you just pulled."

"What stunt? Shooting you in the leg? In my defense, you were choking me."

"No." Hazel crossed his arms. "What happened back at Haven."

"Betraying Qrow and Ozpin? What are you talking about!"

Hazel growled, "Your eyes."

 _Well, shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii—_

"I don't know what you're talking about." Mercury looked up at him.

"Yes, you do." Hazel leaned down to look at him. "We both know that you almost activated your silver eyes."

"Nah, I think you saw a trick of the light—or another one of Emerald's hallucinations." Mercury shrugged. "I'd go get my eyes tested if I were you."

"My eyes are fine—yours are the trouble."

"Nah. I'm fine. Welp, I'm off to sleep—mind taking the first watch?" Mercury asked before moving and lying down on a soft patch of dirt. "Wake me when it's my turn! Thanks!"

Mercury rolled onto his side, his back to Hazel. He closed his eyes and heard the taller man grumble before moving somewhere. He settled down after a moment.

 _This is bad. This is bad._

 _Hazel wasn't supposed to know about my eyes._

 _Only a few people I know, know about my eyes—and I can count them all on one hand!_

 _Only Cinder really knows—Emerald hasn't figured it out yet._

 _Heck! I literally only activated it like ten minutes ago!_

 _And now Hazel knows. He will tell Salem, and then it will all go down hill from there._

 _This is bad._

 _Like I stated before._

 _Maybe I can play it off like an illusion or a trick of the light?_

 _Who am I kidding? My eyes are obviously silver._

 _I wonder how I managed to fool people._

 _It's because I'm a great actor._

 _(And killed people who found out.)_

 _That's it! I'll just kill Hazel!_

 _No… he's going to be difficult._

 _I could fake my death?_

 _…I'm not going to go that far._

Hazel's voice cut through Mercury's thoughts.

"You do know that we are going to talk about this in the morning, right?"

 _Welp._

 _I'll just leave in the night._

* * *

Mercury didn't leave in the night.

In fact, he didn't get waken for his shift either.

When he _did_ wake up, dawn had just passed. His headache had dimmed to a small itching behind his eyes. He slightly groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He looked around the campsite, Emerald was still asleep—though she did look better than last night—and Hazel was sitting by the remains of the campfire he set up while the two slept.

"Why didn't you wake me for my shift?" Mercury wondered, still rubbing his eyes.

"Because I knew that the moment I went to sleep, you would bolt."

 _I wouldn't have!_

 _…Yes, yes, I would've._

"Oh."

Hazel turned to him. "We don't have anything for breakfast, I hope you realise that."

"Doesn't matter," Mercury shrugged before rubbing his eyes, "I've had worse."

Hazel raised an eyebrow. "Why don't we talk about what happened at Haven?" he suggested.

"Why don't we _not?"_

"You have silver eyes," Hazel pointed out.

"So?"

"That's dangerous."

"So?"

"I should tell Salem about this."

Mercury didn't respond.

"Not so talkative now, are we?"

Mercury rubbed his eyes once more.

"Cut that out."

"Can't," Mercury said, "they're itchy."

"Hmm," Hazel mused. "I wonder _why."_

"Why does it matter?" Mercury snapped. "Ever since _one_ person who knew anything about silver eyes found out, I've been bombarded with questions and treated like the enemy since! Why does anything have to change just because my eyes are a different shade than I said they were!"

Emerald stirred.

"I'd lower your voice if I were you," Hazel said, "do you want to wake her?"

"No." Mercury calmed down. "I don't see why Salem _needs_ to know about this. It's not like I would actually use it."

"Did you plan on using it in Haven?"

"I _didn't_ use it in Haven," Mercury countered.

"Because Emerald caused a distraction. You would have used them if she didn't, am I wrong?"

Mercury remained silent.

"I should kill you," Hazel mentioned. "Stop Ozpin from being able to hook his claws into you." Mercury turned to him, apprehensive. "But I won't."

"What? Why?"

"Don't get me wrong," the man growled, "you show any signs of being nothing but loyal to Salem, and you're dead. Just not now because I don't believe in killing for no reason."

"But you just gave a reason," Mercury pointed out, "to stop Ozpin."

"It doesn't matter," Hazel gritted, "if you are loyal to Salem, then killing you will only help him by bringing down one opponent."

"Still," Mercury shrugged, "you never know what my agenda is."

"Do you _want_ to die?"

"Nah, just messing with you."

Hazel glared at him.

 _This must be the most he's ever spoken in a day!_

 _Hah._

"As I was saying," Hazel continued, "if I tell Salem, then she'll keep you away from the fight—or kill you. That will also benefit Ozpin."

"So…" Mercury checked, "you _won't_ tell Salem?"

"Don't know yet," Hazel answered, "haven't decided."

"Oh."

"But if you keep up this nonsense, then I will."

"Oh."

The two sat in silence once more. Emerald's soft snoring was the only thing to be heard. She formed a barricade between them, keeping either of them from lunging at each other. Mercury managed to stay silent.

 _Welp._

 _This plan went well._

 _Can't wait to see what mishaps will happen next! Not._

 _Now, all I have to do is wait for Emerald to wake up and hope that Hazel doesn't rat me out to Salem._

 _Fun._

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Part three is completed! Finally!**

 **(If you read** _ **Sincerely, Satan**_ **then I finished that before this and didn't know when this would get done… This finished earlier then expected…)**

 **Sorry for the looooooooooong wait…. Oops? School started up again and I was busy…?**

 **(Now we have to see if there is any Silver Eyed Assassin material in Vo.6—please don't pull a Vo.4 and have Mercury not say anything! If there isn't any good material… I may have to tweak what actually happens. If you don't know, I'm trying to relatively stay close to the original plot—just changed slightly because of Merc's silver eyes.)**

 **Wow. To think that when I started this, there was no plot. I just wanted to rewrite the Cinder scene with Mercury having silver eyes. And look where we are! Thank you, one a.m. me!**

 **For the scenes in the show, I tried to** _ **not**_ **copy and paste. So some of the phrases are rephrased differently, I wanted to throw a different spin on it. Besides, we know what happens. Why reread about it in a fanfiction** _ **not**_ **about those scenes?**

 **In this head-cannon, I believe that people with silver eyes wouldn't be effected by other people with silver eyes. It's just something small that doesn't really play a big part. I just think it's neat!**

 **So… yeah…**

 **What else is there to say?**

 **Oh! Thank you to everyone who reviewed on part two! And thank you to everyone who has been here from the start and who is new!**

 **Um…**

 **Have a good day…?**

 **Bye!**

 **Fiddlerinthewoods OUT!**


	4. Of Trust and Secrets

**Hello.**

 **Sorry about the long wait, I was debating how to continue this series. I have decided that I will do a season a chapter—though I have no idea how much this may pain me in the future.**

 **I messed with some of the timings in the show for this fic—it doesn't change much—just that it takes the group a few extra days to make it to the train station, that's all.**

 **Chapter summary:**

 _ **After returning to Salem, Mercury tries to hide his silver eyes for as long as he can. Given a new mission, he has to seek out those who do not trust him, and hope they don't kill him on sight. The mission, though, is not without its dangers and discoveries. Secrets are revealed, trust is broken yet gained, emotional attachments begin, and Mercury's world goes white.**_

 **Anyway, I don't own RWBY.**

 **Enjoy!**

When they got picked up from the forest, it was by an airship and not a Grimm—to the surprise of Mercury. He honestly thought that Salem would send a giant Grimm to pick them up, if not for style then to intimidate them.

One thing that Mercury was _not_ looking forward to was the conversation he knew he would have to have with Salem.

He didn't send them information like he was supposed to, his relationships with Qrow and the others went down the drain, and he has silver eyes—something he figures Salem _will_ recognise the instant she sees them.

If Ozpin was able to recognise them, then surely Salem—a much more powerful being—would as well.

And he was screwed.

* * *

As he, Hazel, and Emerald sat in the hull of the airship, a thought occurred to him.

They didn't realise he stuck his tracking device on Yang.

At least, they haven't before or during the battle at Haven.

He could possibly use that to his advantage if he ever got a scroll again, and wasn't killed on sight.

Though with the fact that Cinder wasn't there anymore to keep them alive, both Emerald and Mercury were probably on the chopping block.

…And as Mercury glanced over at Emerald's pall form, he infinitesimally regretted heading back to the very woman who had no problem killing them. At least with Oz's group, he knows they wouldn't be killed.

Apparently, murder is a bad thing—at least, that's what he got from that group.

Hazel occasionally glanced over at Mercury during the ride, though it was almost impossible to figure out what the large man was thinking. After trying to decipher his stoic face for ten minutes, Mercury gave up and pulled out his screwdriver.

Emerald looked up as he worked on his prosthetics.

"What?" he demanded after catching her staring. "The screws are coming loose."

"Nothing…" She looked back down.

 _And this is why I don't form emotional attachments._

 _They always make you weak._

Mercury deliberately ignored the faint thought in the back of his head about his emotional attachment with Emerald. He quickly snipped that train of thought away.

He was an assassin.

He couldn't have emotional attachments.

In order to be able to backstab both sides of the war, you needed to not have any connections to either side of the war. Or else you'd be compromised.

And compromised people tend to be the first people dead.

That wouldn't happen to Mercury.

He was a survivor.

And if he had to deny his silver eyes for another seventeen years—then by the Gods, he will.

No matter what Oz and Qrow thought, Mercury was not a silver-eyed warrior. He was a silver-eyed _assassin_ —not a warrior.

Oum, they needed to get their technicalities correct.

After finishing up with his left leg, he moved onto his right. The screws, honestly, were not loose—he just needed something to keep his mind occupied.

And thinking about Salem was _not_ what he wanted to occupy his mind with.

At least his eyes stopped itching. Or, at least, they faded enough that he didn't register the itchiness. Either way, his eyes didn't hurt anymore.

"Hey, kid," Hazel spoke up after a long period of solitude. Both Emerald and Mercury looked up. "We're almost there."

Mercury slid his screwdriver into his pocket and pulled down his pant leg. He stood up and looked out the window.

Unlike both Emerald and Hazel, he had never seen Salem's domain before.

He could barely peel his eyes away.

The sky was a crimson colour of red, never ending. The moon lit over the sky as an executioner and Mercury was the dead-man. Black jagged rocks and cliffs stuck out from the blood ground, pools of black tar bubbled and boiled. Grimm slowly crawled out of the pools, the tar sliding off of them smoother than Mercury expected.

In the middle of the land, there stood a castle.

The dark castle overlooked the entire land. Its presence radiated fear. Tall towers spiraled to the sky; dark glass kept the insides from outsiders. It stood on a blood red cliff, over a large lake of tar.

"Oh, great," Mercury mumbled, "we're heading _towards_ the large evil castle…"

They got closer to the castle, then the airship stopped, and the three hopped off.

Landing on the blood rock, Mercury couldn't stop the chills radiating all over his body.

He straightened his back; he wasn't allowed to show his fear.

He looked around the land, and up to the top of the castle.

The itching sensation in his eyes turned to a stinging pain and he bit back a hiss.

Oum, he hated this place.

* * *

While the three had to report back their mission, Mercury spent the entire time silent. He avoided all gazes and kept his mouth shut.

Believe it or not, he knows when not to speak.

And this time was one of those times.

But when the glass begun to break and crack under an invisible stress, he glanced at Salem and knew her _look._

It was the look of the leader who received terrible news. The look Mercury had seen on his father whenever his training wasn't perfect, or when his hit didn't go smoothly.

It was a look that Mercury knew to avoid at _all costs._

Yet, here he was, standing in front of Salem.

His pupils contracted in fear as pure power radiated from her.

Every bone in his body was telling him to bolt—but his fear kept him grounded.

"Mercury," Salem said, "what do _you_ have to report from _your_ mission?"

He swallowed his fear and spoke, "Ozpin…" the power around Salem increased, "is trying to train a silver-eyed warrior."

By the two Gods, he was going to throw _everyone_ under the bus if it meant saving himself.

Besides, he didn't care for them.

They were the enemy.

"A silver-eyed warrior," Salem hissed. She looked at him and he adverted his gaze.

"Yes." He nodded; his voice timid.

His father would be so disappointed in him.

"And… who _is_ this silver-eyed warrior?"

Mercury glanced up again. "Ruby Rose."

"Rose…" Salem mused. She paused before looking around the room. "Leave,"

Tyrian tried to protest, but was quickly silenced.

Mercury was almost overjoyed when he left the room. And, if anyone asked, when the door shut, he did _not_ hear Salem scream or the sound of hundreds of glasses breaking.

He honestly was happy that Salem didn't know he had silver eyes.

So far, he wasn't dead.

That was a win in his book.

* * *

He was dead.

So, so _very_ dead.

And, by default, Emerald was also dead.

Because of him, and how he's dead.

It was a day or so later when Salem called for both Mercury and Emerald to meet with her. No one else. Just the two underlings of Cinder.

He would be surprised if Emerald was more terrified than him.

Yeah, Emerald practically worshipped Cinder—and now she was isolated from Salem, and will probably be killed—and Emerald was also the timid one of the two, but she didn't have the chance of being killed based on her eye colour.

Red eyes were normal, silver eyes were rare.

They were also a death warrant from Salem.

So yeah, Mercury was pretty terrified.

He just wanted to leave the land and head back to _any_ of the human continents. Even, Oum forbid, Solitas.

At least there, his eyes won't hurt.

The two knelt before Salem and she looked over them. For a while, she didn't say anything—only watched as they practically trembled in front of her.

"Cinder has failed me," she started, "and since you worked under her, you have failed me as well."

 _Welp,_ Mercury thought, _I'm done for._

"But, unlike Cinder," Salem continued, "you are here—and therefore, I will give you an option to regain your spot." She paused and looked at the silver-haired teen. "Mercury,"

He glanced up at her. "Yes?"

"You found out about the silver-eyed warrior from your time with the enemy," Salem stated, "yet, you didn't send me this information until _after_ the mission. What do you think should happen to you?"

Mercury didn't answer. He honestly didn't want to know.

Salem stood up and moved towards the two. "Stand. Both of you."

Following her orders, the two teens stood in front of the witch. Both avoided her gaze. "If I were to send you out into the field," she thought, "would you fail me again?"

"No," Mercury answered. "We would not fail you."

She looked at him, staring directly into his averted eyes. "Good." She turned and looked at Emerald as well. "If you were to fail this mission, you will be dealt with accordingly."

Emerald and Mercury glanced at each other, uncertain about what Salem was talking about.

"Mercury," she looked at him, "I want you to continue your previous mission. Get close with the group again. This time," she added at his surprised reaction, "I want you to bring me this Ruby Rose. And Ozpin. And the relic."

 _She doesn't realise that they hate me, does she?_ he thought.

"Emerald," she turned to the mint-haired teen, "you will be in contact with Mercury. Any information he receives, he will hand to you, and you will hand to me. If you think that Mercury is not fulfilling his mission, or is being compromised—you are to eliminate him."

 _Uh, hello? I'm standing right here._

"Yes, my lady," Emerald almost stuttered.

"Good." Salem looked at them both. "Emerald, you are dismissed. Mercury, you are not."

 _Shi—_

 _I am so dead._

Emerald glanced at Mercury before silently exiting the room.

Salem looked over at Mercury, she didn't say anything for the longest time. When she did speak, he wish she hadn't.

"When you are addressing me, I expect you to look me in the eyes," she ordered.

"Very well." Mercury gulped before looking at Salem.

He saw her eyebrows furrow as she stared into his eyes. She didn't break eye contact when she spoke.

"Do you understand why I gave you this mission?" she asked. "I know of the hatred the enemy must have for you, it all honesty—Emerald would have a much better time doing your mission."

"I agree," he said, "she would."

Salem moved closer. "I gave you this mission because I know that Ozpin will try to 'save' you and corrupt you into his way. And he would not for Emerald."

Mercury wanted to avert his gaze and submiss to her fear, but he was frozen.

"Ozpin will give you a chance because you have silver eyes," she explained.

 _I am dead._

"I am not killing you here because you are the only one who can get close enough to the group. You are the only one who can get to the relic," she paused. "I will tell you this only once, Mercury Black, if you show _any_ signs of conspiring with the enemy, I will not hesitate to kill both you and the girl."

 _Oh, Gods._

He dragged Emerald into his mess.

"I understand," he gulped.

"Good." She turned back to her throne. "Intercept the group before they head to Atlas. You are dismissed."

Mercury left the room and nearly slumped against the wall from shock.

She knew.

She _knew._

She knew about his silver eyes.

And if he fails his mission, he will be killed.

If he fails his mission, Emerald will be killed.

 _Shi—_

Godsdamn emotional attachments.

* * *

"Tyrian," Salem spoke to the scorpion Faunus, "trail Emerald and Mercury on your way. If you believe that either are not fulfilling their mission, you are to eliminate them both."

Tyrian broke out in a laughter. "Of course, my queen." His tail swung behind him. "It would be my pleasure…"

* * *

It didn't take Emerald much convincing to hand over her scroll to the assassin.

So, he sat on the ledge of a windowsill, fiddling with the tracking device still implanted in Yang's arm via the app tracking her. He just needed to work his magic with the scroll, and he should have her exact location.

He didn't know how they overlooked it, but they had. He also was surprised that Ironwood didn't track Yang down because of the tracking device.

Speaking of Ironwood…

Mercury was not looking forward to head to Atlas.

Since he was a wanted fugitive who had broken his parole in many, _many_ ways. There was no doubt that he would either be arrested on sight, or killed.

He also had to prep a cover story as to why he came back to the very group he had deceived time and time again. He doubted that they would listen to him—he did say he lied a lot.

Oum, he was done for.

"Mercury," Emerald started from the other side of the room.

He glanced up. "Hm?"

"What did Salem want to talk to you about?"

He paused. "Nothing much."

Mercury shut off her scroll. "Here," he said, not-so-gently tossing it back to her.

Emerald caught her scroll and pocketed it. "What exactly did you do?"

He shrugged. "Nothing much. Just tampered with something."

"Mercury."

"Nothing important. It's fine."

Emerald cocked an eyebrow. "And to think, you were just an idiot a year before…"

"Hey!" Mercury complained. "I wasn't an idiot!"

She didn't look convinced. Emerald's amused expression suddenly turned to one of sorrow. "We're not going to live through this—are we?"

Mercury, surprised by her emotions, stood up. "Em, come on. We'll be fine. We've both lived through worse."

"But not Salem."

He shrugged. "We're living still."

"You best not be doubting Salem," a gruff voice said.

Both teens turned and saw Hazel standing in the doorway.

"You need a bell."

Hazel ignored Mercury's comment. "Tyrian, and Salem herself, wouldn't hesitate to kill you for showing nothing but loyalty to Salem. Do not talk about doubt in this castle, or you _will_ be dead."

Emerald was the one to speak, "Noted."

Hazel looked between the two before stopping on Mercury. "Come on. Your ride is taking off soon."

Mercury headed towards where Hazel stood. "Where are you going anyway, Mercury?" Emerald wondered.

Mercury shrugged. "The Argus Limited."

"Well," Hazel said, "you best be heading off if you don't want to miss your train."

"Yeah," Mercury agreed, "that would be deadly."

Quite literally for him, since he'd probably be killed.

If not by the group, then by Salem.

Great.

* * *

Sneaking on board the train was easier than expected, but harder than anticipated since Emerald wasn't able to help him.

All it took was a few pickpocketing, and _maybe_ a robbery-turned-murder behind an alleyway when the victim didn't submit their lien.

But, hey, now he was on the train.

He didn't get recognised because of the outfit he stole, definitely from the murder, for he wore grey pants with a black long sleeve shirt and a black woolen sweater with a hood.

He was heading to Atlas, _of course_ he would dress for the snow.

Which he knew would be hell on his prosthetics, since they stung when frozen.

He walked down the aisle on the train, trying to find a good spot. He was near the back when suddenly the door opened and Yang and Ruby walked into the train car. Mercury practically leapt over the old woman who was sitting beside an empty window seat.

"Hey," complained the woman, her large robotic eyes eyed Mercury, "watch where you're going, young man."

"Sorry," Mercury quietly apologised, "I didn't see you."

"Oh, you saw me alright," the woman said. "You also saw someone you didn't want to see; I presume?"

Mercury balked. "What? How'd—"

He was getting sloppy.

This wasn't good.

"Young man," the woman explained, "you practically leapt into my lap once you saw those Huntresses walk in."

"Oh."

"Know them or something?" she wondered. "People don't normally jump like that unless they want to hide from someone."

Mercury paused. "Yeah… something like that."

The woman scoffed, "Now, what's a Huntsman like you hiding from two Huntresses?"

"I'm not a Huntsman."

"Young man, I see your guns in your shoes."

Mercury blinked.

 _How? She doesn't have eyes. Her vision must be terrible if she wears those glasses._

Besides, he's not a Huntsman.

He's an assassin.

"Those are for self-defence," he explained. "When we go through Grimm territory, I like to be prepared."

"Hm…" the woman muttered. "And the Huntresses? She your ex or something?"

Finally. Something he could work with.

"Yeah," he nodded, "broke up recently. She hates me. Would probably kill me on sight…"

Yang probably would.

"Hm," the woman mused, "the tall one?"

"Yeah," he sighed, "Yang…"

Oum.

He hated this.

 _Someone, please end this now._

The woman didn't respond. Mercury didn't start up another conversation.

He was busy trying to think of what to say to Yang and the group.

Oum, this won't work out well for him.

* * *

The day only started to get worse when the Grimm attacked.

The train shook and Mercury straightened. He saw Ruby and Yang rush back through the car again, ignoring him once more, before joining the battle on the roof.

Then, the Grimm warning alarms sounded through the train.

"Grimm?" the woman wondered. "That's odd."

 _Not really… we're in Grimm infested areas._

Mercury cocked an eyebrow.

"Are you going to help them?" the woman asked Mercury.

"I'm not a Huntsman," he repeated, slightly annoyed. "I don't fight Grimm."

"Hmph," the woman mused. "Could've fooled me."

Oum.

This woman was getting on his nerves.

How many times can he tell her that he's not a Huntsman?

If she mentions it again, he's going to be at his limit.

He can't have people on the train know he knows how to fight, then he might be asked to aid in the attack—and then Yang and the others will know he's here before he can figure out a plan.

And that would be devastating.

* * *

While he didn't have a plan, the others did.

Their plan consisted of separating the trains so that the civilians, and Team JRN, could head off to Argus—while Team RWBY, Qrow, and Oscar would stay behind to stop the Grimm.

Too bad Mercury discovered this plan _after_ the train separated.

Too bad he was on the side of the train with RWBY and the Grimm.

And too bad he still had no plan.

Actually, his plan consisted of not dying—so, there was that.

While the train crashed off of its rails and down the snowy slope, Mercury saw a black gravity glyph under his and the woman's feet.

"Hold on!" He held onto the chair as the train jerked one last time. The black glyph disappeared and he was flung forward onto the floor. "Ow…"

Standing up, Mercury was able to see the old woman perfectly fine. She moved to the entrance of the train. "Hold on," Mercury spoke, "shouldn't you wait to see if the Grimm is gone?"

The woman turned to him. "Young man," she chided, "I've lived long enough to realise when Grimm has fled the area. Come on, let's see these Huntresses you've avoided."

A gruff voice was heard from outside the train, "Is everyone okay?"

Qrow.

"I'm fine," Weiss assured.

"Yeah," Blake added.

"Still alive!" the woman's cheerful voice erupted.

Mercury paled as he looked out beyond the woman. The group was spread out in the snow, Yang and Ruby next to each other. Cargo littered the ground.

Everyone turned to look at the woman, surprised, and Mercury kept his hood up.

Oum, this was not going as planned.

The woman exited the train. "That sure was a close one, huh?"

Mercury didn't leave the train.

"Hey, buddy," Qrow started, "thought we said that all passengers were to go to the front of the train."

Mercury shrugged.

"Don't blame the boy," the woman waved Qrow off, "he was merely protecting me."

Mercury sighed; he was _not_ doing that.

"Uncle Qrow," Ruby started, "there's nothing we can do now. Let's gather our stuff."

She moved away from Yang and begun to pick up fallen dust capsules. Yang stomped over to where her Bumblebee laid.

"Great, this is _just_ great," Yang mumbled. "We're stranded. We lost a third of our party. And we have gained a defenseless old lady and a helpless boy." With the final tug, her motorcycle came free from the snow and Yang fell onto the ground.

 _Helpless?_

Mercury scowled.

He was _not_ helpless.

The old woman spoke, "My name is Maria Calavera," she swiped away Oscar from where he was trying to help her, "and I am not defenseless. I'm just a little hard of hearing, and blind without my eyes." Mercury raised an eyebrow. "That are in desperate need of repair…" she paused, "Okay, I'm starting to see your point."

"Okay, Maria," Ruby started, turning to Mercury. "And who are you?"

Oum.

What should he say?

By the Gods, he needed a plan.

"Someone who made a huge mistake," he explained.

Yang flinched and readied her weapons. "I know that voice."

"I know your voice too, blondie," Mercury continued, cockily, "kind of hard to forget it."

Yang shot off like a rocket, pinning Mercury to the side of the train. His hood fell off. "MERCURY!" she growled, staring him directly in the eyes.

"Hi."

The rest of the group readied their weapons. "If you're here," Blake started, "where's the rest?"

Mercury raised his hands. "Not here, I grant you."

"Why're you here?" Ruby demanded.

"I made a mistake," he explained, "and I would _love_ to explain it when I'm not pinned against the train with a weapon in my face."

"Yang," Qrow ordered, "back off."

Yang growled again before dropping Mercury, her weapons never deactivating.

Mercury brushed the snow off his sweater. "Thanks."

"Explain. Now." Yang ordered.

"Okay, blondie," Mercury started. "Salem wants me dead."

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "I thought you worked _for_ Salem—why would she want you dead?"

"Well, you see," Mercury continued, "I've never actually _met_ Salem before. When we did, she noticed my eyes and well—it didn't end up well. Now, she wants me dead—so I figured, 'hey, those guys are least likely to kill me on sight'. So, here I am."

"Your grey eyes make Salem want to kill you?" Weiss demanded, unconvinced.

Mercury shrugged. "They're _actually_ silver so…"

Maria squinted.

"How do we know that you're not a spy?" Yang demanded.

Mercury thought before shrugging. "You'll just have to believe me."

"Weren't you the one who said you always lie?"

"Only when convenient," he corrected, "and lying right now would _probably_ get me killed."

"Mercury," Qrow started, "you broke _every_ rule on your parole—why shouldn't I hand you over to Ironwood right now?"

"Besides from the fact that the CCT Towers in Atlas are now down and you can't reach him?" Mercury wondered, he then shrugged. "I can help you guys."

Ruby spoke, "Mercury. You have lied and deceived us time and time again. Why should this time be different?"

Mercury sighed, he dropped his cocky act—and replaced it with a sincere act.

"Look," he started, "I know you don't trust me, and you honestly have good reason _not_ too. But I'm at the end of my line. I have no where to go. Salem wants me dead; humanity wants me in chains; Emerald _hates_ me; my family is dead. There is no where left for me to go."

"What makes you think we don't want you in chains?"

Mercury lightly scoffed, "I know you do," he assured, bBut I also know that you're least likely to kill me on sight." He paused, before holding his wrists out.

 _Oum, anything for the mission._

"So, I am here to offer myself to the punishment I deserve."

The group paused. They looked at each other, confusion and thought on their faces.

Oscar was the first to step forward. "Mr. Black," he said and Mercury looked up at Ozpin, "what punishment do you _think_ you deserve?"

Mercury was at a loss of words. "I, honestly, believe that death is the only punishment I deserve," he explained. "I have killed, I have stolen, I have hurt, and lied. I break every rule given to me no matter what. I destroyed my _only_ chance of freedom.

"I deserve no life. I have ruined mine to a point where I can never fix it. The only punishment I deserve—the only punishment that will stop me—is death."

"Then," Ozpin continued, "if death is what you seek, why are you here with us?"

He was at another loss of words.

What could he say that wouldn't give away his mission?

Oum, he was done for.

"I…" he started, "I don't know…"

Qrow placed away Harbinger. "Someone find something we can tie him up with. We'll deliver him to Atlas on our way."

"I feel as if that is the only thing we can do currently," Ozpin agreed. "With no current punishment in mind, we can only keep Mr. Black with us until the moment arises."

Ozpin disappeared.

Oscar faltered for a moment before looking around quickly.

"So…" Ruby started, "anyone got any rope?"

* * *

They tied his hands behind his back with some emergency rope located in one of the cargo boxes. At least they didn't take away his wool sweater—it was freezing outside.

"What happened with no more lies or half-truths?" Yang demanded to Oscar as he helped Maria again. "Attracting Grimm since we left Haven is something we should have known."

Oscar turned to them. "Yeah, I think it's time we got an explanation."

Mercury knew from experience that when the first thing someone says is them trying to prove their innocence, then they probably did something.

So, when Ozpin's first sentence was, "I did not lie to you," he was pretty sure that the old professor did.

Mercury looked over at the others as he stood beside Qrow, who was watching him again since Qrow was suppose to be watching over Mercury _anyway…_

Weiss wasn't convinced with Ozpin. "You certainly didn't tell us everything about the relic."

Ozpin was trying to be pacifistic, but it was not working. Yang wanted to know the truth. Right then and there.

"Shouldn't we have this whole reveal thing when we're _not_ in the snow while out in the open?" Mercury wondered.

"Mercury," Yang turned to him, "now is not the time."

He furrowed his brow. "Are you kidding me? Unlike you, I don't want to freeze to death."

"Mercury, shut up," Yang growled. "Ozpin, explain."

Looking at how out numbered he was, Ozpin gave in. He started to explain, "It is true that the Grimm are attracted to the relic."

 _Pretty sure we knew that already. But way to cement their ideas._

"It's faint, but undeniable."

 _Funny, cause you tried to deny it._

"I believe it has to do with their origin, but I'm not entirely sure."

 _Wow. Something Oz_ doesn't _know? Mark that in the books._

"Regardless, I feared that making you all aware would only add anxiety and negativity."

"Well," Mercury muttered, "wasn't he right."

Ozpin continued, "It seemed like the safer option."

Weiss commented. Mercury really didn't care what she thought about someone making choices for her safety. He knew from experience that naïvetés can be the safest option sometimes.

"Is that why you chose to lie to everyone about Lionheart too?" Yang demanded.

Oum, Mercury was getting really tired of everyone's blame game.

"Yes, as a matter of fact," Ozpin continued. He turned away and begun to pace, everyone followed him. Qrow dragged Mercury's arm to get him to move.

Ozpin went on about how he believes that the man should be remembered for his lifetime of service, and not the missteps in his last years.

"Missteps?" Yang growled.

Ozpin kept moving. Mercury was getting the feeling that he didn't want to be near anyone during the conversation. "What Professor Lionheart did was reprehensible."

 _Not for Salem._

"I am not here to argue differently."

Could've fool Mercury.

When Ozpin spoke next, Mercury figured it was from experience. "Do we not all have regrets?"

Mercury was never going to answer that question.

"You may have met Professor Lionheart, but you never met the man he was before Salem found him."

Yang started to talk about 'teamwork' and 'being in this together'. Mercury didn't care for it.

"We're not going to turn our backs on you."

Ozpin stopped. "Do you think Leo was the first?"

All froze.

"That he didn't say those exact same words to me?"

Mercury furrowed his brow.

"I'm sorry, but you have to understand that my behaviours are backed by experience," Ozpin continued. "I'm not saying that I have reason for to think you will betray me."

 _Yes, I am. So, jokes on you._

"I'm saying that I have reasons for the things that I do. The secrets I keep. The reason I—" Ozpin stopped.

He looked around frantically before asking, "Where's the relic?"

 _Oum, I wish I had it so that I can just grab the kid, and Ruby and, then, leave._

"Right here." Ruby's voice cause all to look at her. The relic in her arms.

 _So, that's what it looks like._

"Please, hand it over."

Ruby paused before talking about emotional phrases of hope and whatever that Ozpin mentioned. Mercury rolled his eyes.

He didn't get paid enough for this.

He, technically, didn't get paid at all.

Ozpin continued his conversation, trying to correct Ruby about her wrong thoughts on his words. He, then, gave a lame reason as to why he wanted it back.

Ruby, Mercury had to admire the backbone on her, mentioned how the relic was powerless now—he smirked at Ozpin's face.

"Why does it matter who carries it?" Blake wondered.

Mercury scoffed, "So can I?"

"Shut it." Qrow lightly smacked the back of his head.

Ozpin stepped forward. "I need you to listen to me—"

Suddenly, his body froze on its own command.

Mercury raised his eyebrows. "Is this normal?"

"Oz?" Qrow wondered in concern.

"So, no then…" Mercury mumbled.

Oscar begun to speak in a hoarse tone, "Hurry," he said, "he's trying to stop you."

Mercury furrowed his eyebrows. This day keeps getting weirder and weirder.

"Stop her from what?" Yang wondered.

 _That's what we all want to know._

Oscar strained out another sentence, "He's afraid. You'll find out what he's…" he strained again, "…hiding."

He then fell to the ground.

 _I guess fighting for control of your body is hard work…?_

 _Sheesh kid, grow a backbone._

"Her name is Jinn," Oscar continued. "Say her name to summon her…"

Mercury watched as the wind howled and Ruby looked down at the glowing lamp.

"Jinn?"

* * *

The air stopped.

The snow froze.

Temperature disappeared.

"What?" Qrow voiced.

Suddenly, the relic begun to glow and float out of Ruby's arms. Blue mist escaped the relic, forming the large shape of a person. Golden jewellery decorated her body as she stretched in the air.

She was completely blue.

She was completely magical.

And, by Oum, whoever created her knew their _stuff._

"Wonderful," the being started. "I am Jinn. A being created by the God of Light to aid humanity in its pursuit of knowledge."

 _To aid humanity…? What a load._

"You're in luck," Jinn continued, Mercury blinked from his thoughts, "as I am able to answer—"

"That's enough!" Ozpin yelled.

Mercury glanced over at the fallen figure.

"—Two questions this era."

 _Huh._

Jinn, as with Mercury, either didn't notice the atmosphere or didn't care for it. "It is a pleasure to see you again, old man," she greeted.

Ozpin didn't look up when he begged, "Ruby, please…" he caught her eye, "don't."

When Qrow stepped forward, Weiss pointed her weapon at him. Mercury raised his eyebrows; he didn't expect the ex-heiress to have that much gall.

"Do whatever you think is right, kiddo," Qrow finished.

"So," Mercury wondered, "is there like a limit or so?"

"Mercury," Yang glared at him, "enough."

Ruby slowly turned to the blue genie, "Jinn," she started, "what is Ozpin hiding from us?"

 _That._

 _That is a loaded question._

"NO!" Ozpin roared before running towards Ruby.

Mercury watched as he reached his hand out to her—

* * *

White.

Everything was white.

Mercury looked around the white.

There was no one there.

"Huh," he said, "I didn't think I'd be alone this soon."

His arms were still tied behind his back and he struggled to undo them. They really knew their knots.

The white got interrupted by blue mist as a voice spoke, "Once upon a time…"

Mercury watched a castle formed from the mist.

"There stood a lonely tower."

He furrowed his brow.

"That sheltered a lonely girl,"

The castle disappeared. The blue mist formed a mirror with a stool in front of it. Sitting on the stool, was a blonde girl.

She slowly turned to Mercury, though she didn't see him.

Though the differences were large, Mercury was still able to see the resemblance.

Her pale skin was now normal, her red eyes were blue, the veins were completely erased.

She was innocent.

"Named Salem."

* * *

Mercury furrowed his brows in thought as he saw Salem lie to the God of Death.

He stepped back in alarm when he saw Salem willingly stab herself with a sword.

"What?" he questioned when he watched as Ozma conversed with the God of Life about trying to stop Salem.

He watched with amusement as the merciless witch he knew smiled at her daughter.

He watched in silence as Salem battled Ozma, killing their daughters.

He watched as she reformed from ash.

He watched as Ozma died.

He watched as the world went on—how Oz spent his life.

He watched as Jinn explained that Oz cannot destroy Salem.

And he had no idea what to think.

* * *

"Salem can't be killed."

Yang's voice pulled Mercury from what he just saw.

Mercury stood off to the side as Yang began to yell at the crying figure.

"Professor…" Ruby quietly started, "what is your plan to stop Salem?"

The crying Ozpin looked up at her. "I… don't have one."

Qrow stepped forward and punched Ozpin into the tree.

"Woah!" Mercury said in alarm. "That's not nice."

You do not kick a man when he's down.

That is something _Mercury_ knows.

And the _good guys_ don't?

Mercury furrowed his brow.

He did not condemn abuse.

"Stop being so dramatic," Mercury interrupted. "So, we know some new information? That's not so bad. You know what _is_ bad? Being killed by Grimm from all the negativity you are radiating. So, calm the hell down and wait until we get to a safer location before you do anything."

"Mercury," Qrow started, "you have no idea what you are talking about."

"Do I not?" Mercury wondered.

"Salem is immortal."

Mercury scoffed, "And she has magic, can create Grimm, and is undefeatable. What else is new? None of this is new. Besides, if there is _anyone_ you should know the secrets of, it's me. At least Ozpin is one hundred percent on your side."

"Is everything you say so…" Yang growled, "so… so… awful?!"

"It is when I recognise abusers," Mercury mentioned.

Blake spoke, "Mercury, stop."

"We cannot trust someone who does not trust us!" Yang sneered to the silver-haired teen.

"Trust does not mean you need to know everything," Mercury explained, "If it was, then would you trust _anyone_ on your team? Do you know _everything_ about _everyone_?"

"What Ozpin kept secret was important to the mission!" she countered.

"Was it?" Mercury raised an eyebrow. "You just found out what you already knew."

Yang growled, "If you don't shut up, I will punch you in the mouth so that you don't speak."

Mercury furrowed his brow. "Wow." He paused. "I can't believe that the _assassin_ has to remind the _good guys_ what decency is… what a world we live in."

Qrow didn't look at Ozpin when he spoke. Mercury turned to him. "No one wanted me. I was cursed. I gave my life to you because you gave me a place in this world. I thought I was finally doing some good."

Ozpin cried silent tears. "But, you are!"

"Meeting you was the worse luck of my life."

Mercury scoffed, "Are you kidding me?"

Ozpin looked down, he thought. "…Maybe you're right."

Mercury turned to him. "Are _you_ kidding me?"

As soon as Ozpin was there, he was gone. Oscar reached up to rub at his stinging cheek.

"What happened?" Ruby wondered.

 _Oh! So_ now _you speak._

Oscar blinked. "…He's gone."

Yang stepped forward. "That _bastard!_ Tell him we're not done!"

"No, he's gone," Oscar explained, "It's like he locked himself deep inside my head—"

Mercury overlapped Oscar and stared directly at Yang. "Why? So, you can yell at him again? Kick him when he's down? For good guys, you're really terrible people."

Yang turned on him. "And _you_ do not get an opinion."

"Why? Cause I'm a criminal? Cause I worked for Salem?"

"Yes!"

"Then you don't get one either!"

Yang stepped towards Mercury. " _Excuse me._ I don't recall being the one who is tied up."

"Yeah, but you're the ones who are acting really nasty," Mercury mentioned. "There are a few things I don't condemn. Abuse is one of them."

"He's the one who kept the secrets!"

"You're the one who forced them out."

"Enough!" Maria ordered. "Now, you two will quiet down before your yelling calls Grimm to our location. I refuse to be killed by teenage angst." She walked over to Oscar and offered her staff, which he used to stand up.

"Maria is right," Ruby added, "we need to calm down and get out of the snow as soon as possible."

"There's a trail over there," Maria explained, pointing her staff to the left. "Trails usually lead somewhere."

When Yang stepped forward to stop Maria, Mercury had to admire how quickly the old woman got Yang to quiet.

"No buts!" she said. "I understand that you're upset. But if we don't move, we'll die."

Mercury spoke, "Well, then, let's go."

"Come on," Ruby said, and _that_ is when people moved.

They begun to pick up the fallen cargo, packing up for the trip. Yang moved Bumblebee with Maria sitting on top. Mercury stood off to the side again, he wasn't able to help with his arms tied up.

Honestly, did they expect rope to work on him when the high-tech Atlesian anklet didn't?

When he saw Qrow walked pass a distressed Oscar and Ruby, drinking from his flask, Mercury realised that kidnapping the two kids may be easier than expected.

Salem wouldn't need to do anything to stop these people—they're tearing themselves apart.

* * *

They found a small abandoned town in the middle of the storm.

Brunswick Farms loomed over the group as they stood by the creaking fence.

"At least one good thing happened today," Blake mentioned.

Mercury furrowed his brow. "I don't like the feel of this place."

"And what are you?" Yang demanded. "Psychic?"

"Don't need to be psychic to know when somewhere is unsafe," Mercury answered.

"It looks abandoned," Weiss added.

Ruby gestured around. "Still better than this."

Mercury piped up, "I think we should continue on. This doesn't seem safe."

"Would you rather die in the snow?" Yang demanded.

"I think we could all use some sleep," Qrow mentioned.

He opened the gate wider as the group slowly entered the farm. Qrow was the last person to enter, just behind Mercury.

"Don't do anything," Qrow warned, "I'm warning you."

Mercury scoffed, "What would you do to me? Kill me?"

 _He might… actually._

* * *

"Maybe everyone left in the hurry?" Weiss tried, shivering against the cold.

Mercury furrowed his brow. "Unlikely. This place seems abandoned for some years now. Makes you wonder _why…"_

"Mercury, not needed," Yang grumbled.

He raised an eyebrow. Out of everyone, he was probably the best one trained for ambushes and recognising an uncanny scenario. That, or he was too cynical. There was _no_ way that everyone just left. He would bet his left leg that something was wrong at Brunswick Farms.

Qrow tried the door, then told everyone to stay on guard.

Not like Mercury wasn't _already_ on guard.

When they entered the house, Mercury entered last to see if the others were killed first.

No one died, much to the demise of Mercury.

"Hello?" he called to the empty house. "We're here to rob you."

He got a few glares from the others, but no response from anything else.

"Close the door already," Maria complained. "Keep the heat _in_ the house."

Mercury kicked the door close.

* * *

"I say that we search the house for bodies," Mercury suggested, jokingly. "We never know what they left."

No one found his joke funny.

He moved to lean against the wall as he watched Blake and Oscar push a chest against the door.

"Right." He nodded. "Keep whatever is inside here _with_ us."

Yang glared at him. "Must you say something?"

He shrugged. "I don't like this situation. I still think we should leave."

"Why?" she demanded. "Your assassin sense tingling?"

He nodded. "Actually, yeah." She hmphed. "Listen, you don't need to be an assassin to recognise an eerie place. There is something wrong here, and I don't know what."

Yang waved him off. "Then find out."

"We should start a fire," Blake suggested, "I saw a chimney from the outside."

"Blankets as well," Weiss added.

The others moved over to the next few rooms, which was a library. Mercury didn't move, neither did Ruby. She slowly looked around the foyer. There were three pictures on the wall.

One of the photos had the entire population of Brunswick Farms. Mercury peeked over her shoulder. "Hey, that looks likes Torchwick."

She jumped and looked at him. "What?"

Mercury smirked. "Just kidding."

"Don't sneak up on people." Ruby frowned.

"I don't sneak," he complained. "Anyway, wanna untie me any time soon?"

Ruby hesitated. "I still don't trust you."

Mercury nodded. "Right—and that, honestly, is the smart decision."

Ruby started to move to the other room.

"Keep in mind, though," he mentioned, "I could escape or harm you at any time. I'm not, though, so maybe you should keep that in your notes."

She furrowed her brow. "What?"

He stretched a leg. "You were _so_ interested in my weapons last time. Can't believe you forgot."

"I didn't forget," she said. "It's not like we can drag you through the snow."

He thought. "Well…"

She almost left the foyer. "Ruby," he called sincerely, "you can't tell me that you don't feel something wrong here."

"It does feel wrong," she admitted, "but we need a place to stay for the night. And we have no better options."

"We can just tunnel down in the—" Mercury got interrupted by some screaming.

They both turned to the stairs. "Weiss!" Ruby exclaimed before taking off. Mercury followed her.

Finding the open door was easy, Ruby, Mercury, and Qrow entered the room and stopped.

Weiss and Yang were on the floor, metres away from the bed. Under the covers laid two corpses sleeping peacefully.

Mercury blinked. "Huh. When I said 'search the house for bodies', I was just joking. You didn't need to take it so seriously."

"How can you joke at this time?" Weiss wondered.

Mercury shrugged. "Not my first corpse."

Ruby and Qrow helped Weiss and Yang off the floor.

"I don't think we should move them," she suggested.

Mercury furrowed his brow and moved towards them.

"Mercury—"

"I can't even pick anything up," he assured. "The bodies will remain unscathed."

He stopped near the man who was looking toward the ceiling. There were no puncture wounds, or dried blood, and the bodies looked to be more than three weeks dead.

"Good news," he said to the four, "I don't think they were murdered."

"And what?" Weiss demanded. "You know dead bodies?"

He stared at her deadpan. "Duh. It's what I do. You have to learn a human inside and out—including their decomposition."

 _Or, at least, that is what Marcus thought._

* * *

The only person not surprised by the fact that every house was filled with bodies was Mercury.

"It's like everyone went to sleep, and never woke up again," Qrow explained as he warmed himself by the fire.

"Then we're not staying here, right?" Weiss asked.

"I agree," Mercury added. "Let's not stay in this place. It's weirding me out."

"So, you've said for the seventh time…" Yang muttered.

"We don't have a choice," Qrow explained, "storm's getting worse."

Mercury sighed, "Oh, great. Then, can someone untie me?"

"No," Yang grumbled.

Ruby spoke up, "Let's do something. If this place wasn't abandoned, it might still have supplies we can use."

"Not unless they all expired," Mercury mentioned. "These people have been dead for over three weeks—about a month or so."

"Well," Oscar stepped forward, "if this is a farm, then there'd be a storage of food for when winter comes and you can't harvest anymore. It can last a year or so if canned correctly. Plus, they might have a car."

Qrow stood up. "I'll do another sweep of the grounds. Mercury, stay with Maria."

Mercury furrowed his brow. "You're giving me a babysitter?"

"I'm _nobody's_ babysitter." Maria turned to the group as she searched the bookshelf.

"No," Qrow turned to Mercury, "I'm putting you under the control of Maria until I get back. You'll do as she says until I return."

"That's basically a babysitter."

"Then I gave you a babysitter." He turned to the others. "No one goes _anywhere_ alone." With that, Qrow left the room.

Yang and Blake decided to look for a vehicle, Ruby and Weiss left to look for some food. So, Mercury, Oscar, and Maria were stuck in the study together.

"So, young man," Maria said to Mercury as he sat down on the couch, quite uncomfortably, "what exactly did you do?"

Mercury shrugged. "It's a long story. Killed a few people, helped infiltrate both Beacon and Haven, worked for an immortal goddess. The works."

"Hm," Maria thought. "Your ex-girlfriend sure is feisty."

Oscar nearly choked.

Mercury sighed, "Listen, old lady—"

"My name is Maria Calavera."

"Maria," Mercury continued, "we didn't date. That was a lie to get you to stop asking about them."

"And here I thought you dated her," Maria mentioned.

The room went silent after that before being interrupted by Maria again.

"You worked for Salem, yes?" she asked.

Mercury cocked an eyebrow. "That's not exactly a secret."

"Let me finish," Maria closed her book, "now that you know about Salem, would you still work for her if she _wasn't_ trying to kill you?"

Mercury huffed. "That's a loaded question." He thought. "Yes. I would. You want to know why?" He paused. "I want to see the world burn. I want to see humanity fall."

Oscar looked back at the fire. "Humanity _will_ fall again, won't it? There really is nothing we can do, is there?"

Maria and Mercury looked at Oscar. "What are you talking about, young man?"

Oscar glanced at the two. "Salem is immortal. She's powerful. She already got humanity wiped out _once._ She wants it to happen again. We can't stop her…"

"You're awfully depressing," Mercury mentioned as Maria went back to her book. "Listen, Oscar—was it?"

Oscar nodded.

"If you don't want to die, you could just join Salem," he suggested. "She won't wipe out those working for her."

"Is that why you joined her?" Oscar turned to the silver-eyed teen. "So that you don't die?"

Mercury faltered. "No, actually," he admitted, "I joined because I worked under Cinder. Cinder joined Salem. That's why she never knew about my eyes until when we met. I wasn't important enough for her. Just an underling…"

Maria looked up. "And with your eyes?"

Mercury huffed and leant back. "If only I had a lien for every time someone mentioned my eyes…"

"Well," Oscar mentioned, "you did mention it first."

Mercury glared at the farmhand, who went back to watching the fire.

"I need something to change my eye colour," Mercury muttered. "Oum, I wish I had that for a semblance…"

"What is your semblance anyway?" Oscar turned back to Mercury.

"Kid," Mercury crossed his legs, "did no one tell you that asking questions can get you killed?"

"No."

"Well, consider this your first lesson. Don't ask questions."

Maria hummed, "What's wrong with your eye colour?"

Mercury stood. "I'm going out."

"No, you are not," Maria ordered. "You're staying in this study until Qrow and the others get back."

"You can't stop me," Mercury mused, "I could leave now."

Maria didn't put down her book. "Where would you go, huh? The outside is a snowstorm, the others will find you eventually. You might as well sit down and enjoy yourself."

"I can't." Mercury sat. "My hands are tied behind my back—it's not enjoyable."

Maria sighed, "Young man, you must deal with the punishments you get for breaking the law. Besides, you asked for a punishment." She glanced at him. "Go to sleep or something."

"I'd rather not sleep in the place where people died in their sleep, thanks."

No one spoke again for a while. Mercury laid down on the couch, itching to fix his prosthetics, which were growing irritating and sore. Oscar stayed by the fire, not moving.

Mercury didn't want to know what was going on through his head.

Unfortunately for Mercury, no spot he sat in was comfy.

He gave up with his numb hands, occasionally feeling his blood rush back when he lied on his side—but then it would go numb again. So, he would have to shift position again. Then his stumps would ache and he would need to shift position _again_ to not be in pain. Then his hands would sting and he would have to shift position _again._

He was getting really irritated.

"My Gods," Maria looked up at him, "can you not sit still?"

Mercury, who currently had one leg dangling off the couch, looked up at her. "Sorry, I'm trying to get comfortable."

"And it takes you this long why…?"

Mercury shifted positions again. "My stumps hurt," he explained. "Kind of hard to get comfortable when your legs consistently ache."

"Hm." Maria placed down her book and picked up the next copy. "Go near the fire then."

Mercury huffed, "Nah—what I need to do is tighten the screws. But I can't while my hands are tied up."

Maria sighed, "Oscar, untie him."

Oscar stood up, alarmed. "Miss. Calavera?"

"Just for him to mess with his legs, then tie him up again," she explained.

Mercury smirked. "You heard her Oscar."

Standing up, Mercury moved over to the farmhand, he turned around and felt Oscar hesitantly undo the tight knots.

When Mercury was able to move his hands, he stretched. His arms burnt from the position, and the rush of blood back to his hands caused some pain. Either than that, he was good.

"Thanks."

Mercury sat back down on the chair and pulled out his screwdriver. He was so amazed by the fact that no one has ever caught it before. He didn't question it.

Rolling up his pant leg, Mercury started to work on his legs. Tightening the screws, checking the ammo compartments, and massaging the taut skin by his stumps. Once his leg didn't feel as if it was in consistent pain, he rolled down his pant leg and worked on the other leg.

The rest of the group returned midway through his checks.

"Why is he untied?" Yang demanded.

Maria didn't look up. "Because he was getting annoying and I needed him to be quiet."

Mercury shot Yang a smirk.

"Why were you annoying?" she demanded. "We need to tie you back up."

Mercury ignored her and went back to his maintenance. "My legs were hurting, so I needed to check on them. And I can't do that when I'm tied up. Besides, it's not like I can do anything. We're stuck in this house until the storm passes. And it's like seven against one, I'm outnumbered."

Yang didn't look amused, but sat down in front of the fire with the rest.

Mercury would take it as a win.

* * *

"There's something down there!" Ruby explained, pointing to the well where she dropped the lamp. "I saw it! It was looking at me!"

Mercury blinked from his fatigue. "What?"

Yang walked down to where Ruby was looking down the well. "You just said you were tired. It's probably nothing."

Mercury furrowed his brow.

"Is it just me, or is everyone acting strangely?" he wondered, crossing his arms.

Ruby swiped Yang's hand away. "Mercury is right—what's wrong with you? We can't just leave it there; we need to go get it!"

Qrow sighed from the side, "All we have to do is fix the trailer. Hey, farm boy, check the shed for a spare."

"And pack food, and water, and anything we can," Mercury added. "There's still a lot to do."

"Then, you do that." Qrow looked at the teen. "I'm tired."

"I'm not leaving without the lamp!" Ruby exclaimed.

Blake sighed, then said she'd go with. Weiss also agreed.

Qrow huffed before standing up. "Fine. Get the stupid lamp. Oscar, fix the stupid tire. Mercury, go with the girls."

He went inside, and headed straight for the liquor.

* * *

The glow of the lamp lit ahead. Blake was the one to point it out.

"How'd it get there?" Mercury wondered, following Ruby as she darted ahead.

They turned the corner and Mercury froze. Ruby spotted the lamp and rushed to it.

"Ruby," Mercury took a step back, "look up."

She looked up and screamed as the creatures moved towards her. She started to back up, Mercury grabbed her arm and dragged her down the tunnel.

Turns out, he doesn't have to give up his left leg after all.

"What is it?" Yang wondered as they ran into them.

Mercury glanced behind him. "You really _don't_ want to know."

Slowly, the tall creatures emerged from their hole. Ruby tried to shoot them, but it wasn't effective.

Everyone pulled out their weapon, but dropped it to the ground.

Mercury and Ruby were the only ones who didn't.

"What's the matter?" Mercury demanded. "This isn't the time."

"My weapon feels heavy," Blake explained in an exhausted voice.

"Run!" a voice behind them yelled. Maria stood behind them. "Now!"

She turned and ran in the opposite direction.

The others followed her.

They could only get so far before growing exhausted. Mercury leant against the wall; his prosthetics were heavier than before.

"What the?" he huffed. "What are those?"

"Now is not the time, boy," Maria breathed.

Ruby spotted a small tunnel in the side. "Come on!"

They raced through the tunnel, getting away from the Grimm behind them. What they didn't account for was the Grimm to emerged from another smaller tunnel.

Bolting through the well, they found themselves in the basement of the house.

No where was safe.

The Grimm waited for them in the basement. Slowly turning to them as they froze.

They headed towards the stairs when the Grimm roared a silent song. They fell to the floor, all exhausted. Mercury could barely move his legs.

"Oum," he breathed, "we're done for."

Maria stumbled forward, exclaiming about the exit. Ruby tried to crawl forward, she tried to rally her team—but nothing was working. Blake fell to the ground, unmoving as the Grimm neared.

"We have to move," Mercury tried, "I am not dying here."

He pulled himself forward, his prosthetics not cooperating.

Ruby moved towards Blake.

Suddenly, a white flash erupted behind Mercury. He turned and saw the Grimm backing up.

"Convenient timing," he grumbled. "Couldn't have done that earlier."

The flash of Ruby's silver eyes managed to give the team the energy they needed to stand up again. Mercury, though, wasn't.

"Uh," he said, "I need some help."

"I've got her!" Ruby explained, helping Blake up.

Mercury, still ignored, crawled over to the barrels and sat against them.

"What just happened?" Maria demanded as Weiss tried to open the locked door.

Mercury sighed, "Well, you see," he started, "sometimes, Ruby's eyes flash. But only _at the most convenient moments._ "

Yang rushed pass Maria and helped Weiss with the door.

The Grimm roared again and everyone fell to the ground. Mercury bashed his head against the wall at the noise, the whole world going hazy.

The last thing he remembered was Maria asking Ruby what colour her eyes were.

And Ruby replying with silver.

* * *

"Life is beautiful.

"Life is precious.

"And it must be protected."

* * *

When Mercury woke up, he was sitting against a hard surface, the sound of a motorcycle, and the rush of cold air.

"The Apathy," he heard Maria's voice say as his headache pounded. "They're not ferocious or strong. They drain your will to go on."

"…And then no one was left," she finished.

Mercury blinked his eyes open. "Ow…" He reached and rubbed his lingering pounding in his forehead. "What happened?"

Mercury, unsurprisingly, was ignored.

Everyone begun to apologise for what they said. Maria mentioned something about her mind—but Mercury didn't really care much.

"Miss. Calavera," Ruby spoke up, "how did you know what to say to make my eyes… do that?"

Maria smiled at her. "Well, isn't it obvious, girl? I had silver eyes."

Mercury blinked and sat up. "What."

* * *

After Maria finished her story about the Grimm Reaper, the group was silent for a moment.

"If you had silver eyes," Mercury wondered, "how come you didn't mention anything about Ruby's until the Apathy?"

Maria turned to him. "Well, young man, while my glasses give me the ability to see, it's hard to differentiate colours,"

"Hm."

Weiss spoke up, "Well, Mercury has silver eyes as well—he's never done anything like what Ruby did, nor did you ask him to."

Mercury glared at Weiss. "How about you stop right there."

"He doesn't seem to be the kind to care much for humanity," Maria explained. "There's no use trying to teach something to someone who won't learn."

Mercury raised his eyebrows. "Ouch."

"I want to learn!" Ruby explained. "Can you please teach me Miss. Calavera?"

Before Maria could answer, Ruby's scroll rung. She pulled it out. "It's Jaune!"

Bumblebee stopped.

Ruby gasped as Jaune spoke to her. Mercury wasn't able to make out what he was saying.

"The city?" She moved her scroll for a signal. "Wait."

She pointed ahead of them. "I'm guessing that Argus is there." Mercury muttered.

Going to Argus means that he was getting closer to Atlas.

Where he was a fugitive from.

And where he was going to be returned.

But, once he was in Argus, he can relay his information to Emerald like he was _supposed_ to.

He just had to not be recognised in the crowd.

* * *

Standing outside of Argus, Mercury pulled up his hood.

He leant against the side of the wall as Yang locked Bumblebee in a storage facility.

The large walls of the city loomed over the group.

Mercury glanced up at a loud gasp, "Cute boy Oz!"

Nora tackled Oscar to the ground as Ren and Jaune jogged over to the group. They exchanged pleasantries as they greeted each other.

"Wait, who's the old lady?" Nora pointed to Maria. "And the shady guy?" She pointed to Mercury.

He could only sigh at Nora's descriptive abilities.

"Well explain when we get to where we're staying," Ruby assured. "There's a lot you need to know."

Mercury highly doubted that the team would be as functioning as they are now when they find out.

That only meant that his non-existent plan was going as planned.

* * *

As much as Mercury wasn't a fan of children, seeing the girls get so livid with the baby, Adrian, was amusing.

"So," Nora started, "who _is_ the old lady and the shady guy?"

"I am Maria Calavera," Maria explained.

Mercury removed his hood. "Hi."

Jaune furrowed his brow. "Mercury, what are you doing here."

"Apparently going back to Atlas," he shrugged, "as it has been decided so far."

"That doesn't answer my question."

Ruby spoke up, "Salem wants him dead, so he's travelling with us to Atlas so we can hand him over to Ironwood."

"Are you sure that's a smart idea?" Ren wondered. "He did aid at Haven. And he worked with Cinder at Beacon. Is he even safe to be around?"

Mercury huffed, "Listen, I didn't nearly die of the cold or by the Apathy to get kicked out in Argus. If I wanted to do _anything,_ I would have done it in Brunswick Farms."

"He has a point," Oscar mentioned. "He _did_ help us on our travels."

"I say we just hand him over to the authorities here in Argus," Jaune suggested. "They can deal with him."

Mercury scoffed. He crossed his arms. "Think of this as a repentance. Besides, if you need to get into Argus—you can use me as a bargaining chip, I'm sure Ironwood would _love_ to have me back in his company."

"He does have a point, guys," Ruby mentioned. "If we hand Mercury over to Ironwood, we can meet with him as well."

Saphron spoke up, "Jaune, did you bring a criminal to my home?"

Jaune glanced at his sister, sheepishly. "Uh…"

"Only petty theft," Mercury assured.

Yang furrowed her brow.

Suddenly, the door opened and a woman walked inside. In her arms were bags of groceries.

Saphron smiled. "Everyone, this is my wife Terra Cotta."

The group gave their greetings and the woman paused. "Oh. This's quite the party."

Terra headed to the kitchen. "Hun, I could sure use some help please."

Saphron got up and followed her wife into the kitchen.

"'Only petty theft'?" Yang demanded. "Really?"

Mercury scoffed, "What do you _want_ me to say? Murder?"

Yang sighed, "That suggestion of handing you over in Argus is looking _real_ tempting currently…"

* * *

"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" Terra asked Mercury as he stood off to the side. "T.V.?"

Mercury thought. "Nah. I have one of those faces."

She shook her head. "No, I'm pretty sure I've seen you before."

"You watch the Vytal Festival?" he wondered. "Maybe there?"

Terra mused, "Maybe…"

* * *

Against everything Mercury hoped, he was forced to go with the group to the military base.

He stood off to the side, near where JRN were.

Yeah, he wasn't getting near the military base.

"Witch," the commanding officer Caroline Cordovin greeted Maria.

"She-devil," Maria responded.

Mercury raised his eyebrows under his hood as the group continued to talk.

Who knew the short women were feisty?

"I've already heard what your other little friends had to say, Miss Rose," Cordovin explained, she glanced to the four behind the larger group. "What are you doing back here?! I thought I told you to leave!"

Mercury moved his face away from her view.

They continued their conversation and Mercury looked up when Cordovin yelled, "The general is no coward! Atlas is strong. If all the kingdoms plan to make us their enemy, then so be it! Atlas will prevail!"

The two guards echoed her.

Cordovin sighed at the group, "If Miss. Schnee wishes to return to her family, then so be it. But you civilians are not allowed through. The military will escort Miss. Schnee to Atlas."

"Listen," Qrow started, "I know General Ironwood. He gave me a mission to look over that—" he pointed directly at Mercury, who silently cursed— "kid right there. He wants us to return him to him _personally._ "

"I have not received _any_ orders from the general regarding this," Cordovin mentioned.

"They're secret," Qrow explained.

Cordovin shook her head. "Without direct orders from the general, I cannot take anything you say as valid."

Mercury neared Qrow. "What are you doing?" he hissed.

"Bargaining chip," Qrow replied before reaching for Mercury's hood and pulling it down.

"Hey!" Mercury complained before putting his hood back on only for Qrow to pull it down again. "Don't touch me."

Cordovin furrowed her brow.

"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby turned to Qrow, concerned.

"Mercury Black," Qrow explained, clutching onto Mercury's shoulder. "Wanted fugitive of Atlas. Helped the White Fang in the Fall of Beacon, and in the Battle of Haven. We're here to return him to Atlas after he broke all the rules of his parole."

"Way to out me…" Mercury grumbled.

Cordovin eyed Mercury. "Guards, arrest Mr. Black."

"Hey!" Mercury complained as he was suddenly manhandled. "Don't touch me!"

"What about us?" Qrow demanded, "We're supposed to be with him."

Cordovin didn't move as Mercury was handcuffed and dragged towards the base. "We will give General Ironwood your best regards, but the Atlas military will handle the fugitive."

Mercury glanced at Qrow. "Way to go."

The gate shut behind Cordovin as she followed Mercury and the guards into the base.

* * *

"Mercury Black," Cordovin started from across the room, "son of Marcus Black. Known assassin who worked with both Cinder Fall and Emerald Sustrai in the Fall of Beacon and the Battle of Haven."

Mercury rolled his eyes. "That's what Qrow said."

"You were on parole under the watch of…" Cordovin looked at his file, "Qrow Branwen."

"The guy you shut out of the base, by the way."

Cordovin glared at Mercury. "I know who Qrow Branwen is."

"Then why'd you shut them out?"

Ignoring the teen, Cordovin continued, "You took off your anklet, which broke one rule of your parole. Did you come in contact with any person via scrolls?"

Mercury shrugged. "Maybe."

"Mr. Black."

"Yeah, I did," he explained. "I also fought people without it being self defense, I bought dust rounds, I have injured people, and I killed people." He paused. "Guess I didn't break every rule—I didn't receive anything through the mail."

Cordovin placed down his file. "Mr. Black, if you try to escape from this base—you will regret your decision. You are under strict supervision at all times, and the drop from your window is over fifty feet high. You will not receive your ammunition. You will stay in the cell."

She walked over to the door. "Welcome to your new home."

The door shut behind her and Mercury was stuck in his cell.

There was barely anything in the cell. There was a bed, a toilet, and a sink. That's it.

He sat down on his bed and sighed.

How was he going to get out of this?

* * *

"I just realised where I saw that young man from," Terra mentioned to her wife before they left for the base, "he's wanted by the government, I believe..."

Saphron nodded. "He told me petty theft."

Terra furrowed her brow. "I read that he aided with the attacks on both Beacon and Haven…"

"Really?" Saphron glanced at where her brother stood. "I'm going to need to talk to Jaune about his… guests."

Terra stopped Saphron quickly. "Be safe."

"I will."

* * *

Turns out, he didn't need to plan his escape.

He was escorted to an airship by some guards sometime after his lovely conversation with Cordovin.

Mercury was dragged through the compound towards where a large airship awaited him. Looking through the compound, he caught the gaze of Weiss before she entered another airship—hers was not one designed for prisoners. Saphron and Adrian were also there, causing a large racket that caused the attention of some guards.

Weiss furrowed her brows at him and he smirked.

The guards stopped him in front of the airship, where Cordovin met him at after her conversation with Weiss.

"You will be escorted to Atlas," she explained. "If you try to escape from your cell on the ship, you will be dealt with accordingly."

"Sure," he said. "Let's go."

Cordovin sneered at him, but allowed him to be placed in his cell. Unlike the prison cells in the base, these were electrical bars. Mercury cocked his eyebrows at the bars.

The ship took off and they headed towards Atlas.

"Hey," said Mercury to the two guards that guarded him.

"Quiet prisoner!" the guard ordered.

Mercury sighed; _I need to get out of here._

"Can I have a screwdriver?"

The guard glanced at him. "No."

"Come on," he complained. "My screw is loose in my leg, which is causing the metal to rub against my skin. And I _really_ don't want blisters to form there."

"No," repeated the guards. "You are not allowed anything that could be considered a weapon?"

"Not even a screwdriver?" Mercury wondered.

He leant down and felt through his pockets, trying to remember where he stashed his screwdriver.

"Oum, why'd you have to take my screwdriver…?" he demanded. "That was the one thing I always had."

"Quiet prisoner!" the guard snapped.

Mercury paced around his small cell, luckily, the handcuffs were taken off him before he entered his cell. A sudden thought came to him as his leg locked and he tripped, hitting his head on the sharp corner of the bed.

"Oum!" he hissed as he twirled around, his leg still locked. A small trail of blood flowed down from his head as his aura was disabled. "Does anyone know first-aid?"

The guards turned to Mercury, they glanced at each other.

"Come on," Mercury pressured, "my head stings. I think I may have a concussion…"

The two guards, Oum bless their souls, were actually fooled by his act and opened the cell door. Mercury activated his aura and the injuries healed.

Mercury leapt up at the guards, his leg unlocked. He pushed the gun of one of them up in the air and kneed them in the gut. He shot at the other with the stolen gun, striking them dead in the heart. He then pushed the fallen guard to the ground and leapt over him. He shot the third guard that guarded the cockpit.

Pushing away his body, Mercury stopped the pilot from alerting the breakout to the base.

"I'd stop that if I were you," Mercury said as he killed the co-pilot. "You're going to do what I say or you're going to be quite messy."

He glanced behind him and shot at the final guard.

With only Mercury and the pilot in the airship, and with Mercury's gun to the pilot's head, the pilot had no choice but to listen if they wanted to keep their life.

"Turn us around," he ordered. "Head back to Argus."

"But—" the pilot started.

"Do it." Mercury dug the gun deeper into the pilot's head.

The ship turned around suddenly, and Mercury nearly lost his balance.

"You touch that radio and I'll shoot you," Mercury warned as he scavenged the corpses for their scrolls. Finding one that worked, and was unlocked, he dialed two people.

The first person picked up, _"Hello?"_

"Hey, Em!" Mercury started. "Where you at?"

 _"Mercury,"_ Emerald greeted, _"you know I can't tell you. Do you have any information to report?"_

Mercury paused. "There's a veteran woman who had silver eyes—she might train Ruby to use hers."

 _"Had?"_

"Lost them," he explained. "While back."

 _"Okay,"_ Emerald said. _"What else?"_

"Hmm…" he pointed the gun back at the pilot."What else…? Oh, Ozpin's currently AWOL."

 _"What?"_

"So," Mercury explained, "the kid's still around, but the old man seemed to have disappeared. Like a teen hiding in their room. Except that room is Oscar's brain."

 _"Anything more?"_

"I may get arrested again but, eh." Mercury shrugged. "No big deal. Oh, if someone's going to Atlas before Ruby and the crew—they need to hurry. We're almost there."

 _"How close?"_

"Flying there from Argus currently."

Emerald paused. _"I'll tell Salem this. Oh, and Mercury,"_

"Yeah?"

 _"Still don't like you."_

"That hurts my heart, Em, you know that?" he joked. "Really stings. Right in my core."

 _"Good,"_ she sighed. _"Once in Atlas, you are to meet up with Watts and Tyrian."_

Mercury grumbled, "I hate those two…"

 _"It's an order from Salem,"_ Emerald explained. _"You have to."_

"Fine…"

 _"Good."_

With that, Emerald hung up.

Mercury smiled before freezing.

He really needed to stop getting emotionally invested with people.

Speaking of emotional people, Mercury called the next person—he was so lucky he memorised the numbers from Taiyang's scroll.

 _"Who is this?"_

"Hey, Yang," Mercury greeted, "just calling to let you know that I'm not dead."

 _"I thought you were in jail."_

"I was," he assured, "but I'm coming back to Argus. Where are you, by the way?"

 _"You should just head to Atlas,"_ Yang said. _"Stay in prison."_

"Ouch."

 _"Besides,"_ she continued, _"we're leaving Argus now."_

"Oh? Where you at? I can pick you up."

 _"Mercury, go to jail,"_ Yang sighed.

Mercury frowned. "Well, that hurts. I'm hanging up now."

He didn't allow Yang to say farewell.

Mercury moved to the front of the ship and threw the dead co-pilot out of the chair. He sat down.

"Oum," he complained. "What did I do to those girls?"

The pilot only looked at him, concerned.

* * *

As soon as Cordovin ended her argument with Maria, the soldier spoke up again.

"Ma'am, there's another on radar."

"Another?" Cordovin screeched. "Contact them immediately."

The soldier begun to contact the ship.

"If it is Calavera and those kids again…" Cordovin grumbled.

"Ma'am," the soldier said, "it's Manta 6-2."

* * *

 _"Manta 6-2, this is Argus Base. We see you've circled back, flathatting. What's your status, over?"_ a voice through the radio wondered.

Mercury held the gun up to the pilot. "Tell them we're low on fuel."

The pilot started, "But—"

"Do it."

The pilot hesitantly reached for the radio. "Argus Base, this is Manta 6-2, feel free to gaff off. Our go juice is above bingo. Over."

 _"Manta 6-2, Say your state. Over."_

"Argus Base, state above bingo. Over," the pilot explained, slightly shaking.

 _"Manta 6-2, base has lost the bubble. Over."_

"Argus Base, my fun metre is pegged. Hop bought the farm. Hop pinging on COD. Bubbas are mort. Over."

Mercury furrowed his brow.

The base paused. _"Manta 6-2, make a ditch. Angel will be abeam on INS. Angel will be painted. Over."_

A loud voice erupted from the radio, _"Mr. Black!"_ Cordovin growled. _"I do not need your teenage rebellion currently right now. You will go back in your cell and wait for our ships to board. I currently have better things to do than deal with your shenanigans."_

Mercury grabbed the radio from the pilot. "Let me guess, Maria and the others are causing you trouble?"

 _"You little—"_

"Calm down." Mercury waved the gun. "Trust me—we'll be out of your hair in thirty minutes tops."

 _"Mr. Black, you are to land the ship in water and wait for my fighters,"_ Cordovin ordered.

Mercury laughed. "The problem with that is that I'm not flying the ship."

 _"Mr. Black—"_

Mercury placed the radio down and shot it.

"Pilot," he said, "ignore Cordovin."

"But—"

Mercury cocked an eyebrow. "Must I shoot you?"

The pilot turned back to the front.

"Good."

* * *

"What in the Gods name is _that?"_ Mercury stood up at the sight of the Colossus battling an airship.

Seeing a red cloaked figure holding her snipe rifle, Mercury pulled out his scroll.

 _"Who is this?"_

"Hey, Ruby," Mercury greeted, "what you up to?"

 _"Mercury?"_ she asked. _"What?"_

"Long story," he started. "What's the giant robot?"

 _"It's Cordo,"_ she explained. _"Where are you?"_

"Hold on." He turned to the pilot. "Place us over the ledge."

The pilot faltered. "But—"

Mercury sighed, "If you don't, I'll shoot you and do it myself."

Once the ship was in place, he spoke to Ruby, "In the airship over the ledge."

 _"How'd you escape?"_

"Not the time." He waved her off. "What's with the getup?"

 _"It's a long story…"_ she admitted.

Mercury stood up. "Hmm… if you say so."

He moved to the back of the ship and begun to take the ammo out of the other guns, refilling his personal weapons. It was just his luck that the ammo was one of the correct types for his weapons.

 _"Are you going to help us?"_ Ruby asked him. _"If you're not, then leave."_

Mercury smirked. "Well, since you asked so nicely…"

He marched over to the pilot and pulled them out of the seat. "Open the doors."

Shakenly, the pilot entered the codes and the doors opened. Mercury pushed the pilot into the ocean and jumped onto the snowy ledge.

"What's the plan?" he asked as he met up with the group behind the large frozen rock.

* * *

The plan was simple.

Jaune, Nora, Ren, and Mercury would distract Cordovin.

Oscar (with a new outfit Mercury wasn't sure when he bought), Qrow, and Maria would spot for weaknesses and keep the ship out of harms way.

Ruby and Weiss would attack directly at Cordovin.

It got a little less simple when Cordovin activated shields and attacked the four footmen with hard dust.

Mercury grabbed Jaune and tossed him away from where he was almost impaled by the black spikes.

"Be careful next time," he muttered.

* * *

Once the shields were down, Nora and Mercury begun to fire on Cordovin.

"Get back here with my man!" Nora yelled.

Mercury cocked an eyebrow and smirked at her. He continued to fire his stolen ammo at her, now actually doing damage because the shields were down.

"How much more can she take?" he wondered.

Nora smiled. "As much as we can give her!"

Suddenly, Nora ran out of ammo and Cordovin turned to them.

"I've had enough of you, ingrates!"

She swung her arm back and moved to swipe them off the ledge. Mercury shot at the ground and hopped up over her arm, he watched as Jaune ran to Nora and used his semblance to boost her aura. They both went tumbling into a rock, their auras depleted.

Mercury landed on the ledge, looking up at Cordovin.

"She's really starting to get on my nerves…"

"Mercury," Nora called, using the rock to help her stand, "help me with Jaune."

He furrowed his brow at her. "Why?"

She coughed, "What?"

"Why should I help you? I'm supposed to be on the enemy's side," he explained.

 _I am only here to backstab you all._

Nora looked at him. "Contemplate your allegiances _later_ ," she coughed again, "help me with Jaune."

* * *

Ruby flew down the barrel of the cannon, fear non-existent.

"She's gonna get herself killed," Mercury mentioned.

 _She can't die._

 _I need her alive._

As the cannon charged up and Ruby disappeared, Weiss yelled out, "RUBY!"

They heard the faint sound of a gunshot before a red blur left the cannon. The cannon erupted, shocking Ruby and breaking her aura.

"She's not slowing down…" Weiss readied.

Mercury, in a split-second decision, boosted off the ground with his boots and caught Ruby in the air. He landed on the ground with a hard thud. Qrow took his niece from Mercury, who slowly stood up and brushed the dirt off his pants.

"Ruby?" Qrow worried. "Ruby?"

The rest quickly made their way over as Ruby cracked open her eyes. "Told ya…"

Mercury blinked; did he miss something?

* * *

"You're NEVER getting to Atlas!" Cordovin screamed. "NEVER!"

Mercury blinked. He _highly_ doubted that.

"All forces converge on my position and eliminate these pests at once!" she yelled into her radio.

"That's bad," Mercury remarked. "We should leave."

"It's a Leviathan!" the soldier on the other end of the radio exclaimed. "It began its approach during your battle! We need you!"

Ruby gasped, "We need to help them!"

"Or," Mercury suggested, "we can leave. This is the opportune time to go."

"We can't abandon the people of Argus!" Ruby argued. "With Cordovin unable to help, we _must_ protect the people."

"Why?" Mercury demanded. "Because of what Maria said about life being precious? That's just a load of—"

"Mercury," Qrow interrupted, "we're going to help Argus."

"It's our fault they're being attacked," Ruby explained, "we need to help them."

Mercury furrowed his brow. "I thought getting the lamp to Atlas was important. We can do this now. There is no other time."

Sudden movement from the forest caused all to turn, Blake and Yang ran out.

"Are you okay?" Ruby wondered.

"What happened?" Blake asked, stopping.

Yang heard the Leviathan roar. "Is that a giant Grimm?"

"Yeah, and we just ruined the only thing able to defeat it," Weiss solemnly said.

Mercury sighed, "Guys, we need to leave for Atlas."

"Why do you want to go to Atlas, anyway?" Jaune wondered, "You're wanted by them."

Mercury bit his lip. "It doesn't matter."

"Guys," Ruby interrupted, "we can interrogate Mercury after the Leviathan has been dealt with."

 _Unlikely. I'm not spilling anything._

"Does anyone even have aura still?" Mercury wondered. "You don't, Ruby. Neither does Nora, Jaune, or Weiss."

The named people stood awkwardly off to the side. No one answered Mercury.

"That's what I thought."

"No matter," Ruby spoke up. "We still need to help."

* * *

"I'm a Huntress. My team and I are heading to the Leviathan and can weaken it for you to attack!" Ruby explained through the radio as they flew towards the colossal Grimm.

"We have literally squat!" Mercury reminded. "No aura, almost no ammo. This isn't going to end well. We can't."

Ruby turned to him. " _I_ can."

Maria spoke up, "Ruby, when I said 'trial by fire'—"

"I did it at Beacon and at the farm," she reminded.

Mercury crossed his arms. "Doesn't mean you'll be able to do it again."

"I don't have a choice."

"You're going to _die."_

The Argus base spoke up again, _"Manta 5-1, your ship is currently flagged as hostile. You will receive_ no _support, over."_

"Fine, we'll do it ourselves." Ruby placed the radio down.

"Ruby," Mercury repeated, "you don't have enough strength to survive the Leviathan."

"Mercury," Ruby turned to him, "you either need to speak helpfully or you need to quiet down."

He furrowed his brow but didn't say anything.

 _Godsdamn._

 _Why do I need you alive for my mission?_

* * *

Mercury's scroll rung.

As Ruby faced off with the Leviathan, his scroll rung.

Opening the call, he heard a familiar voice, _"Mercury!"_

"Emerald?" he wondered, earning a few glances from Yang and Qrow. "This isn't my scroll, how'd—"

 _"I just dialed the last number,"_ she explained, deadpan.

"Look, Em," he turned back to the scene, "I'm currently busy at the moment so—"

 _"Salem's getting more active,"_ Emerald explained. _"She's making new Grimm."_

Mercury paled. "…Why are you telling me this? Are you even _allowed_ to tell me this?"

With Emerald's silence, he got his answer.

"Where are you right now?" he demanded.

 _"Still in the castle—"_

"You didn't leave!" Mercury exclaimed.

Qrow furrowed his brow. "Mercury, get off the scroll."

Mercury waved Qrow off. "Em, Salem's going to _kill_ you for telling me."

 _"Mercury,"_ she objected, _"I'm telling you this because she's trying to kill_ you _."_

He scoffed, "I know. She told me."

 _"You don't understand!"_ she persisted. " _I overheard her talking to… something? I don't know. All I know is that she mentioned killing you when you bring the boy and Ruby to her."_

"Ouch."

 _"Take this seriously!"_

"Look, Em, I am. But we're also battling a Leviathan," He explained.

Turning to face the scene again, he saw a large flash of white from Ruby. The Leviathan froze in stone. Unblinking, he saw her fall.

"Ruby!" He reached out and grabbed her from tumbling off the edge of the ship while everyone else was getting their bearings. He saw the Leviathan break through the stone.

Placing the scroll to his ear, he spoke quickly, "Look, Em, I have to go."

 _"Mercury—"_

Mercury pulled Ruby up with the help of Qrow and Yang, they laid her on the floor of the ship.

"Godsdamn," he muttered, "I told her."

 _"Mercury,"_ Emerald continued, _"please!"_

Mercury stood up and continued his call, "Emerald, I need to go."

 _"She's creating new Grimm to target you and Ruby,"_ Emerald explained. _"At least, that's what I think."_

Mercury rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Oh, great. What else?"

 _"Take this—"_

Emerald's call was suddenly cut off.

Mercury blinked. "Em?"

She didn't respond.

* * *

"There is nothing we can do!" Nora exclaimed. "Ruby's out, the Leviathan broke through the stone and is attacking Argus, Cordo is stuck, and we're out of aura! We can't do anything!"

Maria spoke up, "There _is_ something we can do—though I highly doubt it'll be effective."

"What is it?" Qrow demanded. "Any plan is a better plan than what we have."

"You boy," she said to Mercury, "you have silver eyes; therefore, you _should_ be able to do what Ruby can."

Mercury blinked. "Ha ha. No."

"No?" Yang demanded. "So, you'll just let the Leviathan attack Argus?"

Mercury turned to her. "I'm not a good guy, Yang. This _isn't_ my expertise. It's yours."

"You need—"

"Besides," he continued, "I _highly_ doubt I'd be able to do what Ruby does. You need love and hope for humanity, and good memories, and all that shi—"

"Hey!"

"And I don't have those." He shrugged. "I could care less for humanity. It's never done me any good."

"Boy," Maria spoke, "you don't need to love humanity to protect it. Besides, all you really need is one person you care about. You don't have that?"

Mercury scoffed, "I don't _do_ emotional attachments."

"What about Emerald?" Blake added. "You seem to care for her, if your scroll call was proof…"

Mercury scoffed again, "I don't."

 _Godsdamn EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENTS._

"Oh, really?" Weiss demanded, she got agitated as the Leviathan started on the city's walls. "Then why'd your eyes flash white at Haven."

"They didn't."

"Looked like they did."

"But they didn't," Mercury persisted, "There wasn't anything there to use them on."

Maria spoke up again, "Boy, you can only use your eyes to their full power around Grimm—but that doesn't mean that intense emotion can't cause them to act up."

Mercury cocked an eyebrow. "Hm. Still can't do it."

Jaune looked down at Ruby. "Then, unless Ruby wakes up—Argus is toast."

"Mercury!" Yang yelled. "For once in your life do something good!"

Mercury sighed, "Yang, I can't."

"There are people down there, they're going to _die!"_

"You're talking about if I should care for their lives, while I kill people!" Mercury pointed out. "If you didn't notice, I'm not one for sentimentalism."

"You don't need to be sentimental to care for someone else," Ren mentioned.

Mercury glanced at him. "I _don't_ care for _anyone_ else."

Yang stood up from where she knelt beside Ruby. "You are so… SO… intolerable!" she exclaimed. "You take so much from people, yet you don't give back!"

"So what?" Mercury demanded. "I'm a parasite? Is that what you're going to say? Then say it. Helping people _isn't_ my thing—in case you forgot, I wouldn't be working with you if Salem didn't want me dead."

"No," Oscar spoke up, "you only travelled with us because Salem wanted you dead. You stayed with us, and fought with us, out of your own conviction. Salem didn't make you."

Mercury sighed.

 _Oh, how the naïve think…_

Weiss spoke up, "Uh, guys, we need to do something _fast._ The Leviathan has almost made it passed the walls!"

"Mercury!" Yang called. "Blast the Leviathan."

Mercury grumbled in frustration, "I _can't._ "

"You won't."

"I mean, I can't!" he repeated. "There is no literal way I can do whatever you want me to do. There is _no one_ I care about!"

"Mercury," Qrow spoke, "you need to think. If you don't do something, then we're all dead."

 _I mean, Ozpin would just reincarnate—but, whatever._

"Godsdamn," he muttered, covering his face. "If I don't die, I'm killing you."

"Okay, just do your thing."

Mercury closed his eyes.

* * *

 _This isn't going to work._

 _I have no good memories._

* * *

Memories flashed through his mind.

 _His father, covered in blood, holding a large saw._

 _His own hands, drenched in red._

 _The pain coursing through his legs—phantom pains that never ended._

 _Meeting Cinder and Emerald by the tree line. How he thought of them when they looked at his battled self._

 _His banters with Emerald over the most_ useless _points. Eye colour, books, someone's clothing design, whether or not he could throw a wrench out a window and hit someone without looking…_

Emotional attachments.

Stop.

 _His father's dead body, laid before him. His house burning._

 _The lessons drilled into him since he was born. How to kill someone. How to stop someone. How to hide. How to deceive._

 _Ruby talking about weapons to him as they sat on the bench in the night._

 _His one friend who hurt him._

 _Watching Yang train and being slightly honoured that she was basing her kicks off of him._

 _Staying with Taiyang and Yang, discovering what a real family feels like._

Emotional attachments.

Stop.

 _Joking with Yang about the bomb in his anklet._

 _Seeing Yang defeat the bandits as he watched in the distance._

 _Hazel pinning him against the tree, demanding about his eyes._

 _Salem's castle. Her bubbling anger he recognised from his father. How she was going to explode at any minute, and how he needed to leave._

 _How Emerald managed to get him to talk about his father while training, the day before he was sent off on his mission._

 _How it's his fault that Emerald is going to die._

His fault _._

 _Emerald is going to die._

 _Salem is going to kill her._

 _All because of him._

Emotional attachments.

STOP.

His eyes begun to itch.

* * *

Mercury opened his eyes and the world turned white.

It wasn't like the white from Jinn, but a piercing white that blinded his sight.

He heard the Leviathan roar before collapsing to his knees and nearly falling out of the airship.

Everything was blurry.

Someone was looking down at him, their mouth moved, but he wasn't able to hear anything. The other people in his sight looked out the door at something he couldn't see.

The noise in the background, clatters, yelling, a concerned voice, all drifted away as if he was submerged in water.

The itch left his eyes, a lingering pain.

The face above him blurred some more as something touched his forehead.

His eyelids were heavy—he could barely keep them open.

A faint voice in the back of his head warned him to not rest near the enemy.

Another voice coaxed him to sleep.

Mercury closed his eyes and the world turned black.

* * *

The first thing he heard was small white noises. The engine of the plane, the occasional whisper, his own breathing.

He opened his tired eyes and stared directly at the wall across from him.

"Oh," a voice to his right said, "he's up."

Mercury turned and glanced at the rest of the people. Yang and Blake sat next to each other, the remaining JRN were together, Oscar was on the opposite wall of Mercury.

The voice to his right was Ruby.

Mercury reached out and rubbed at his eyes. "What happened?"

"Turns out you have good memories, kid," Qrow said from the entrance to the cockpit. "Or, at least, not so terrible ones."

"Thanks," Mercury sighed. "And the Leviathan?"

"Well," Nora started, "after you and Ruby's light shows, Cordo came and delivered the final punch! The whole Grimm dissolved and Argus is safe!"

"Huh."

Jaune shook his head. "I still can't believe that Ruby petrified a leviathan _after_ getting shot out of a cannon."

Ruby laughed. "Don't act like you all haven't done crazy stuff before! I mean, Oscar made a successful crash landing! He's a fourteen-year-old farm hand!"

Oscar awkwardly agreed, "Yeah… I… but... I've been meaning to tell you guys... I didn't land the ship on my own."

After a short recollection of how Ozpin spoke to him before Oscar landed the ship, the amiable atmosphere in the ship turned sour.

"Ozpin took control?!" Nora exclaimed.

Oscar shook his head. "No… he only guided me. Then he was gone…"

Mercury furrowed his brow.

"Does that mean he's been watching us this whole time?" Yang demanded.

Oscar shrunk. "I… don't know. But it means he's been looking out for us, at least…?"

Mercury scoffed, "Very convenient timing."

 _Oum, if Ozpin returns then taking the kid is going to be harder._

* * *

"Hey," Qrow called from the cockpit, "if you've never seen Atlas before, you may want to check it out."

Mercury hesitated before following the rest.

 _Oum, I'm not going to leave Atlas—am I?_

 _Of course, this only occurs if I am caught._

 _Who am I kidding?_

 _I am literally in just my shirt and pants—I lost my sweater._

 _I'm dead._

"Wow…" Oscar breathed.

"Wow!" Nora exclaimed.

Maria nodded. "You know, you make the trip up to Atlas over and over, but you _never_ get used to that view…"

Mercury furrowed his brow. "Why're all their ships…?"

Above the city of Atlas, multitudes of airships waited for them. Each ship was ready for attack, but none has fired.

Weiss spoke, "I knew we called back all of our ships but…"

"That's a lot," Mercury concluded.

Qrow leant forward. "It's like they're expecting an attack."

A crackling from the radio caught all of their attention.

 _"Manta 5-1,"_ said the Atlas air control, _"welcome home…"_

* * *

Emerald stood in the meeting room, her crushed scroll in Hazel's hand.

"Don't let Salem know you're conspiring," he warned before dropping the scroll. "You'll be dead."

Emerald nodded. "Noted."

She turned back to the window as Hazel left the room.

 _Mercury, I hope you're okay…_

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **The next installment, hopefully, will be up after Volume 7 comes out—and before Volume 8. That is, of course, there is material to work with. If there is not, I'll make something up—since this is an AU, after all…**

 **This was fun to write—I have been spending the last year of so trying to figure out what I want to happen with this series. Eventually I gave up and thought 'Merc's going to Atlas whether he likes it or not'.**

 **Also, I headcannon that Mercury would** _ **not**_ **like how they treated Oz… it's emotional abuse so… and I feel like Marcus wasn't the best father so…**

 **Enough sugar-coating—pretty sure Merc was abused, and so, I think he wouldn't want that to happen to someone else during his adventure of contemplating allegiances—aka: 'I may be a bad guy, but that doesn't mean I'm a** _ **bad guy**_ **'.**

 **Congrats! This series is no longer completed! Yay!**

 **Also! The mention in the beginning about being picked up by an airship and not a Grimm is because the original draft had a Grimm in it—then I rewatched the episode and changed it…**

 **Anyway, I have nothing else to say…**

 **Fiddlerinthewoods OUT!**


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